


Lost Charge

by DAsObiQuiet, Impiousimp



Category: Original Work, Stargate - Fandom, Stargate SG-1
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, Family Bonding, Fish out of Water, Illustrated, Illustrations, Long Lost/Secret Relatives, Military Jargon, Multi, Multiverse, Other, Science Fiction, Superpowers, speedster
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-03
Updated: 2019-04-12
Packaged: 2019-07-06 06:35:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 44,711
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15880536
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DAsObiQuiet/pseuds/DAsObiQuiet, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Impiousimp/pseuds/Impiousimp
Summary: On the heels SG-1's latest mission, a girl appears through the Stargate with a surprising connection to Major Carter despite claiming to be from an altogether different reality.  With no method for her to return, can the super-powered stranger carve out a place for herself in this new world?  Meanwhile Sam had to reconcile her own doubts of having a family where it concerns this stranger and how she'll fit into the team and the family she's found in it.





	1. Enter Hightail

**Author's Note:**

> The OC Kylee is a hero I invented for a webcomic which Iam working on.
> 
> Chapter 1: More dramatic images forthcoming, added a little extra prose.  
> Chapter 8 incomming after I draw some stuff  
> Chapter 7 A few more images.
> 
> If anyone wants a scene illustrated let me know in comments.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Edited by Obiquiet

 

The multiverse was real.

Kylee wouldn't have believed it even a year ago – maybe even a few months – but now…  


 

Now that she was trapped in a no win situation, staring down the biggest bad she's ever laid her baby blue eyes on.  It occurred to her then that she probably could have avoided this if she just had stayed home that day, which was ironic considering how multiverse theories worked.  Every choice made had the potential to spawn an alternate timeline in which the opposite happened, or something totally ridiculous. Heisenberg, eat your heart out. Simple enough to stay indoors, eat cereal and watch reruns of some bingable show online and see what all the hubbub is about.  Instead she went out for a run.

 

 

And she loved to run.

 

“She” being Hightail, college student and part time superpowered do gooder, capable of breaking the sound barrier and charging a phone just by being near it.  All in all, it was amazing. The near permanent runner’s high and the feeling that she could run forever. The only serious drawback (although there were more than she liked to admit) was being sucker punched while she was answering a text.

Obviously she knew she really shouldn’t be bringing her personal phone on patrol for security, but on the rare occasion… well, it was kind of easy to take her  safety for granted. To be fair, she’d thought she was pretty safe as she had and nobody could really even touch her while she was moving at mach two (unless they’re a speedster too).  
  
And yet that was another bad choice that had piled up just right by the end of the night.  
  
The real kick-off event started with Zephyr, another super human like her; a tall guy who wore a suit resembling that of a motocross outfit, but with a furry collar like those old pilot jackets.   Like her, he had super speed, and he wouldn't know the meaning of 'good intentions' if it bit him in the butt. She'd had altercations with him before, enough to know that she and the other speedster were polar opposites, more like water and oil than anything else. When they came together it usually tended to cause a flurry of chaos as they dashed through the streets trying to knock the other down (or in Kylee's case, shock him with enough of a jolt to stop him in his tracks). Usually she had the advantage due to the nature of her electrical powers, and that time should have been no different.

Except it had been.

Neither one of them had seen the traps -- too busy exchanging banter with each other to remember rule number 0 for speedsters: WATCH WHERE YOU’RE GOING.

The next thing she'd known, her body had been wrapped in a cord that somehow short-circuited her power, both speed and electricity. She’d gasped as she recognized the sudden feeling of weakness inside her that testified of her power being suppressed. She hated that feeling. It had only happened a couple of times since she'd gained her high-speed power, but it never got easier or better.

And she'd still fought despite feeling drained and weak, little good as it did her.

After that, she'd only been able to watch as the enemy, a lizard-beast-man looking more like something someone would see in a Saturday-morning cartoon than anything, grinned sparkling, pointy teeth at her and then reacted to Zephyr's super speed. The lizard-man had somehow managed to blast a hole in her rival's leg armor, burning him pretty badly from she scream he'd let loose and the resulting patch of red skin she'd seen later.

Then the lizard guy had caught the other speedster by the throat, choking him as he'd then dropped her and slapped something onto her rival that had to be some sort of power drain. The smarmy son of a gun would still fight otherwise and he'd only struggled just about as uselessly as her at that point.

 

 

 

Obviously Lizard-man had a keen mind a ruthless streak that had his hungry grin growing wider as he surveyed his catch, seeming to enjoy their struggles as they both tried to get away from him.

The next thing they'd know, they'd ended up in an arena known as the 'Infinity  Cascade' as contestants in a gladiator-like sport. They'd been forced to fight each other, privacy being the least of the violations as they battled – often to the death – for others' entertainment with their freedom being the ultimate prize. She and Zephyr had struck a temporary truce (that very likely wouldn't last a moment after they got back to Earth) and tag-teamed their way into the final battles.

But it had been difficult to say the least. She _liked_ the other contestants (well, most of them), each brought from a different dimension in the multiverse, all supposed heroes in their own right, or enemies on similar standing, and hated the idea that her own freedom would come at the cost of theirs. Apparently, she wasn't the only one. Morale had been low among all the contestants and it had gotten to the point that many had just given up, sinking into depression and stagnation.  Eventually, Kylee had come up with the idea to simply stop participating, supposed freedom be damned. She'd just wanted to see what would happen, hoping that they'd be brought before the Infinity Cascade's boss to make a stand.

Which brought her to this point.

Her eyes widened as she stared up at the Lovcraftian horror in front of her.

Too bad the boss was this... _thing_. The 'Host', as it called itself, was a giant mass of tentacles and teeth as it towered over the group consisting of herself, Zephyr, a couple of other heroes and a contingency of  alien guards. That didn't even begin to describe the smell of the thing, cloying and disgustingly sweet, like rotted flesh while its skin was a patchwork of mottled, putrid green that made her want to vomit.

 

Beside her, Zephyr swallowed. “Hightail, I'm reminding you that this was your idea,” her long-time rival said from beside her. He sounded far more subdued than he usually did and for once, she really couldn't blame him. They sat in power suppressors looking up at the 'Host' of the arena they'd been dumped into an indeterminate amount of time ago (they didn't exactly have days and nights here). For all she knew, they could have been contestants in the gladiator-like games held here for days or months or anything in between.

 

“Well,” she said, hoping her voice didn't sound as small as she felt, “it worked... sort of.”

 

The guard that had brought them here stopped speaking and Kylee was working on her restraints extra hard as silence fell. For a moment, nothing happened.

 

Then the Host attacked. Bound as he was, Zephyr was easily dispatched, as were the other prisoners and even the guards. Kylee managed to dodge the first blow by diving forward, but was in no position to avoid the glowing whip produced by the thing (as if it didn't have enough tentacles on it's own) as the weapon shot towards her, impaling her leg even through the otherwise durable material she wore. She let out a cry of pain as the whip retracted and grabbed at the blood seeping into her clothing. Well, it didn't feel like it had hit anything vital at least, and her high metabolism should take care of that pretty fast. One good thing about the Cascade is they knew how to take care of speedsters, even if it did take the form of a nasty kind of gruel in a pouch.

 

 

The pain distracted her and the monster grabbed her by the neck at that point, one enormous tentacle wrapping around her neck as it raised her up. She gasped as she looked down at it, and then her eyes caught the scene around them. The platform below her was obscured by the thing's bulking arm, but she could see the entire arena stretching out beyond that. It looked similar to a metal honey comb with each pocket holding a different type of terrain. They'd even somehow managed to set one up with what looked like _lava_ pouring out of a _volcano_.

 

 

What the actual freak?

 

 _You dare?!_ A voice in her had that wasn't a voice at all and gave her the feeling of fingers being scraped against a chalk board burst through her thoughts.  

 

“Yes!” she managed to get out, returning her gaze to and glaring as defiantly as she could at the Host.

 

The being screamed, both aloud and in their heads and she could help but wince as it shot her even higher, plunging her towards the stream of energy racing over the top of the Cascade. Fear shot through her body. She'd been warned to never go near that. Now it looked like she didn't have a choice.  

 

Time seemed to slow and for just the barest moment before she was pushed into it, she felt it: the ebb and flow if the multiverse, ever changing and ever flowing, with untold potential so awe inspiring it took her breath away.

 

And then she plunged inside it and _screamed_.

 

 

The energy latched onto her immediately, raw and unfiltered as it was. If her powers hadn't been what they were, it would have torn her apart in an instant. But her body was used to energy flowing through it in one form or another. That didn't stop her from somehow realizing that this was too much and she couldn't stay there for long. It also didn't stop her from understanding that the energy gave her new form with infinite possibilities completely undefined as of yet.

 

It came so fast and so much that she couldn't _think_ and her body was on _fire_ and her throat hurt, was she screaming still? She couldn't hear, couldn't understand... couldn't make it out... couldn't do anything except pray for respite.

 

The next thing she knew, the pain vanished. No... not vanished, it was still there, she just couldn't react anymore. And she was floating away from herself. Was that really her? Was this what people referred to as an 'out of body experience'? She saw her body dangling – unconscious, she somehow knew – in the grip of the tentacled tyrant. Her body had gone limp in the thing's grip, but was otherwise a mirror image of herself. Had she gotten out? She didn't think so. Something had changed. She was different but the same...

 

She would so need therapy after all of this.

 

Right about then, reality shattered like glass. Or perhaps it was her soul. Either way, she no longer sensed anything. There was nothing to sense. She was nothing. Everything was nothing.

 

She had no idea how long she existed like that, strongly suspecting that 'time' was meaningless here anyway. And then, something reached out, plucking her straight out of the abyss. She saw the face of her savior for only a moment, an older woman with curly hair and muted robes. She spoke in riddles, the likes of which Kylee would have problems remembering even on the best of days, but despite this, the speedster understood the woman's intentions.

 

She wanted to save Kylee. All the young woman had to do was give an answer. Kylee opened her mouth to speak and gasped awake, stumbling forward.

 

The room around her pitched back and forth, and she could feel her knees buckling, her feet no longer under her.

 

A hand stretched out before she could hit the metal grating below her, managing to catch her. It was strong and sturdy – for which she was grateful – and clad in military fatigues. She clutched at it, trying to will everything to stop spinning.

 

Behind her, she caught a glimpse of a giant ring with a shimmering surface not unlike water in the center before interlocking metal plates slid into place before it, causing the beautiful light it to disappear from view. The movement did nothing to help her nausea.

 

Her legs felt like jelly, but this was an unknown situation and her instincts were screaming at her to not show weakness. Taking a deep breath, she forced herself to stand, thankfully with the assistance of the large man who had caught her. He towered above her and was built like a linebacker. She tried to give him a smile, but judging from the raised eyebrow he shot her, didn't succeed.

 

If her ears would stop ringing and the world would stop spinning around her, she might have been able to understand the surprised and panicked voices around her, maybe even figure out what was going on.

 

Vaguely, she noted that some of the soldiers in the the room had turned their weapons on her, standing in a defensive line that looked more than a little intimidating.

 

That was when she noticed the other three people standing and staring at her as if she'd grown two heads. Two men and a woman with blond hair and a strikingly beautiful – and all too familiar – face. The dizziness was getting to her, and her jelly legs had turned into mush. She felt herself begin to go down and knew she couldn't do anything to stop it. Instead she reached out towards the familiarity, barely able to focus on that long enough to speak one word before the world went dark.

 

“Mom?”

 

 

 


	2. Questions

SG-1 and 'routine' didn't tend to go in the same sentence. There was a reason they were the first team, and not simply because they happened to be assembled first. No, they were the response team, the go to team, the model team that took on the hardest missions.

So having a normal recon mission turn out to be just that, normal, was a breath of fresh air. Everything had gone perfectly. They'd collected all of the soil samples easily, managed to get them and keep them in order, had all of their notes and security checks ready to go and even managed to be on time for their return trip to Earth. There hadn't been the slightest mishap.

The planet had not been inhabited, and while there had been ruins that Daniel had drooled over, there had been no sign of Goa'uld activity at all.

Which was why a random girl falling through the gate directly behind them, close enough to be caught by a fast-reacting Teal'c, surprised them to say the least.

She didn't look like a random native either. She wore a black outfit and a bold, blue Kevlar vest with neon blue lightning bolts accenting the hips. Navy blue boots and matching, cracked motorcross goggles completed the look.

For a few moments she had clung to Teal'c's arm before pushing herself to stand as all weapons in the room turned on her. From the look in her eyes, she wasn't in the best state of mind, and forcing herself to stand had apparently been a bad idea, because her knees began to give out and she reached a hand forward towards the rest of SG-1 as she went down.

“Mom?” she croaked as she collapsed.

Teal'c lurched forward yet again, managing to grab her carefully and lower her to the ground, now unconscious.

For several seconds, they heard nothing but silence after the gate shut off. Then Col. Jack O'Neill turned to his second-in-command.

“Carter?” he said, knowing full well that he couldn't keep all the incredulity out of his voice, “Anything you'd like to tell us?”

Sam, for her part, looked just as surprised as he felt as she blinked back at him.

“Um, no, sir.”

Jack looked between the girl on the ground and the Major a couple of times.

“You sure?”

And there was the (suppressed) eye roll. Well, at least they were getting back to normal territory here.

Major Carter turned her attention away from him and dropped to her knees, checking the girl's pulse.

“She's just unconscious,” she announced, then glanced over her shoulder as several soldiers rolled a medical gurney into the room.   
  


The Major stood, the corners of her lips tugging downwards as the girl's single word nagged at her psyche. The incident with Dr. Carter coming through the multiverse mirror had happened barely a year prior. This… Well, this was out of her wheelhouse.

Over the intercom, Hammond ordered them to the briefing room in three hours, long enough to get a handle on things, as well as the unit to settle in and start collecting their thoughts.

* * *

 

"What are we dealing with, Doctor?" General Hammond folded his hands over the medical report that lay in front of him. He'd read it, noting the peculiar numbers which were a cause of concern for the medical team, of course, but he wanted to hear her own observations right now. Besides, the numbers still didn't explain why the girl was even _there._ The idea that someone could somehow follow one of his best teams, undetected, and gain access to the base via wormhole was a matter of base (and government) security and they had to get to the bottom of it. He looked on as SG-1 followed their General's example and gave Doctor Fraiser their attention.

"She's stable, though blood work indicates she'll be in recovery for a while. It's her vitals that worry me. Her heart rate is twice what it should be, and she seems to be emitting a low level EMF. So far, I can't find a source. It seems as if it's emanating from her cells.” Dr. Fraiser replied.

Jack's eyes widened. “You mean like a super hero or something?”

General Hammond didn't bother to respond to that. Dr. Fraiser looked a little put out, but, being the professional she was, also didn't acknowledge Jack. Instead, she opened her folder to pull out a test result she'd obviously gotten after handing over the paperwork to her superior officer. “As for the DNA results,” she paused and glanced sympathetically at Major Carter, “it's a fifty percent positive match with Major Carter.

The Major noticeably stiffened, one hand rubbing her knuckles in a nervous habit as General Hammond looked over the paper to see the results for himself. Once he'd perused it to his satisfaction, he handed it to her. She only hesitated for the briefest moment before reaching out and accepting the paper to see for herself.

"Is it possible she used the Stargate to time travel here?" Daniel asked as he observed his teammate, trying to reason his way through this odd circumstance. General Hammond appreciated his ability to accept a problem and immediately come up with an explanation for it. It was one thing he greatly admired about their resident linguist.

Obviously unable to hide her discomfort at the situation, Major Carter shook her head, never taking her eyes off of the paper in front of her. "I don't think so. She would have had to gate in from her time, during a solar flare. She came in through the same wormhole we did." After a few more seconds, she handed the paper over to Col. O' Neill and focused on the General. "What about the quantum mirror?"

"It was destroyed after the last incident, Major, unless there was something like that on the planet..." Which could very well be another nightmare in and of itself.

“We found almost no ancient technology beside the Stargate and proof of deliberate damage,” Dr. Jackson said. “Anything of use would have been taken from the planet centuries ago, most likely by invading Jaffa. We can go back and look around again, but I doubt that there is a quantum mirror on that world.”

General Hammond acknowledged the expert's observations with a nod before turning to the leader of the team. “Are you absolutely sure there was nobody else on that planet with you?"

"It was completely uninhabited, sir," O'Neill replied, looking up from the DNA results before passing them on to Teal'c, who glanced over it and then passed it on to the last member of their team. Then the Colonel turned to his second in command. “And not that I want to ruin a special occasion, but congratulations Carter. It's a Teenager," he said with his usual temperament, trying to lighten the mood a bit. It worked. Major Carter shot him a dry look, but she didn't seem nearly so tense anymore. Then she smirked at him and shook her head.

Then Teal'c spoke for the first time. "Could this not be some Goa'uld trick?”

Col. O' Neill's expression turned serious again as he looked over at General Hammond. “They have played games with us before, and they've got a lousy history using kids against us." No one liked the sound of that.

Thankfully, Dr. Fraiser shook her head. "Medically we can't rule it out, but so far I haven't detected any naquadah in her blood. After the readings, that was the first thing I checked for. Honestly, I think we're dealing with something different." Well, it was obvious that she hoped so, at least. Not that anyone could blame her. Even bringing the idea up brought unpleasant memories. It was, after all, her own daughter whom the Goa'uld had tried to use as a weapon.

“Suggestions?” General Hammond asked, looking for opinions before he decided on anything. The last thing he wanted to do was alienate his best team. The government did that often enough as it was.

"Sir,” the Major spoke up, “we should probably talk to her and see what we can learn before jumping to conclusions." Carter said, though she was obviously perturbed by the entire ordeal. “Whether we get answers from her or not, we may want to call the Tok'ra. They have technology that can look at humans on a molecular level in ways we can't right now. They could possibly check for sabotage or evidence of previous experimentation that our equipment may have missed. There has to be a reason her genetic profile is that close to mine.”

General Hammond nodded sharply. "Agreed. While it's clear there's some connection to Major Carter, I don't want to take any chances. Once you clear her, Doctor, she'll be provided with comfortable living quarters as long as her intentions are non hostile." Hammond replied before rising from his seat. “Also once she's cleared we will interrogate her. Hopefully she'll be able to give us some answers. Meanwhile, we'll get in contact with the Tok'ra.

"Dismissed."

 

* * *

 

"Unscheduled off world Activation," Sergeant Harriman Announced over the blaring alarm of an off-world activation. "Tok'ra IDC."

General Hammond took the last step down to the control room and gave the command to open the Iris for their incoming traveler. Major Carter, having been told that the Tok'ra would send a representative over shortly, was waiting in the Gateroom. She smiled fondly as the familiar face of her father stepped through the gate.

"Hey kiddo," Jacob smiled, planting a kiss on his daughter's cheek and they exchanged a hug. “Sorry it took so long. I came as soon as I could.”

“It's good to see you, dad.”

After a moment, they released each other and turned to exit the room as the gate shut down.

"So what was it you needed help with?" Jacob asked.

"Well," Sam hesitated a moment. "I think you'll want to see that for yourself."

The older man raised an eyebrow. “Well that's not ominous.”

“It's just... difficult to explain,” she replied, a little frustrated at the whole situation.

Jacob's eyebrows rose, but he didn't press further as Sam lead the way to the infirmary where the girl lay in the observation room, still unconscious since her arrival two days previously. Jacob was called in to see what he, and more specifically Selmak had to say about the girl in question. Daniel, for now, was standing vigil over the girl as she lay sleeping.

Sam handed the file to her father and watched on for a few moments before her eyes turned to the monitors. "EMF seems to be dissipating, but she hasn't woken up yet," she informed him because that hadn't been put into the report yet.

"These results…" Jacob's eyebrows rose in surprise and he looked down at the girl from the observation window, a crease forming at his brow. After a few moments, he closed his eyes, allowing Selmak to take over.

**"I am going to need to get closer to confirm these findings, but if she is kin to Jacob, and you, Major, I should be able to detect it."**

Major Carter nodded and reached for the Goa'uld healing device. "Here's this as well. It might help. Also, if you could take a closer look and see if anyone has purposefully changed her DNA, we'd appreciate it.”

 **"I will keep the healing device on hand in case it will be needed,”** Selmak replied with a nod. After that, the Tok'ra followed the Major down to the observation room. Behind them, Daniel nervously rubbed his knuckles as he watched them descend.

Doctor Fraiser stood at the side of the bed, checking the girl's vitals once again. She glanced up at the newcomers once before returning her focus to the clipboard. "The only change is that her heart rate has  increased and is slowly continuing to do so. She should wake up soon."

Selmak paused just short of the bed before he looked down at the girl who was beginning to stir. **"I do sense a similar physiology to my host, and therefore to you, Major Carter, and I neither feel nor see anything that would indicate experimentation on the level we discussed."**

"Would you mind taking a closer look? We want to be sure,” Sam insisted.

The Tok'ra nodded, taking the healing device and activating it. After a few minutes, the Tok'ra deactivated the device.

**“If there has been any artificial, purposeful mutations, I cannot detect them.”**

“I see,” Sam said, not quite sure what to make of that information. It certainly tossed one of their more prominent theories out the window, and now they had less of a clue than ever. “Then we have no idea where she came from. She came through the gate after us, from a world we know is deserted.” They'd sent a team back to check, just in case, but only found what Daniel had insisted upon: the girl simply couldn't have come from that planet.

As they stood around her, trying to understand the sheer improbability of this girl's existence, said girl began to stir, gripping the blankets tightly as she roused herself from her unconscious state.

"I think she's coming around,” Dr. Frasier said, turning her attention to the BP and heart monitor. “Her values are climbing... quickly.” It was obvious by her tone of voice that she didn't like that. Sam and Selmak exchanged glances, then jumped as the girl began twisting and turning under the covers.

"AAAHHH!" She yelled, pushing herself back, hitting the head of the bed, and shielding herself with her arms. Well, with one arm, as the other had been handcuffed to the bed. That didn't stop her from trying her best to break it from sheer force. From the way she squinted, it wasn't just because of whatever had scared her. For several seconds, she just breathed heavily, looking utterly terrified and braced for some kind of impact.

"Hey. It's okay. You're safe now," Dr. Frasier said in a soothing tone.

That seemed to startle the girl, and she lowered her arm slowly, cautiously, as if not daring to believe the words. For several seconds she just sat there, staring at Dr. Fraiser before looking around and slumping in relief.

Then she began to cry.   


Somehow Sam knew it would just go downhill from here.

 

* * *

 

"Hey. It's okay. You're safe now."

Kylee didn't recognize that voice, but it sounded different than all of the other voices she'd heard since coming to the Infinity Cascade. Disbelief and curiosity convinced her to lower her free arm, leaning against the frame that she was handcuffed to as she realized that the view meeting her eyes was not the one she'd expected. From what she could tell, she lay in a hospital bed, which was very likely in a hospital. She almost couldn't believe it. How had she gotten here? Had all of that been a dream?

Confused, she continued to search her surroundings, eyes squinting from the far-too-bright light as she tried to adjust to it. Her eyes landed on a slight woman with a no-nonsense but kind face (clearly a doctor) looking at her worriedly. Then she glanced around again. There was her mom and some weird guy in a strange outfit, but it was enough to help her believe that yes, she was finally safe again. Taking a shaky breath, she nodded, relief slowly taking over her features.

"Oh God..." The words slipped out before she could do anything else, and they sounded like more of a sob than anything. She put all of her energy into not crying. It didn't work very well, so she took another breath and pulled her knees to her chest, rubbing her eyes free from the hot tears that she felt forming against her will there.

She was safe. She was _home_.

And right now, that was enough.

 

* * *

 

Sam watched the girl quietly, trying to keep her distance. The girl obviously thought Sam was her mother, and quite honestly, she had no idea how to react. The girl had gone through something horrible judging from her actions and that just worsened the whole situation. The scientist in her wanted to just ask questions. She had a list, starting with 'How did you get here?' going through 'Who are you?' and ending with a possible 'When are you from?' (Despite her insistence earlier, she hadn't completely ruled out the theory.)

After several seconds of awkward silence, the girl seemed to pull herself together, although barely. She sucked in a shaky breath through another sob before pushing herself into a seated position and letting her legs relax somewhat.

The brunette obviously thought that this was a good sign as she smiled. "Take your time," the doctor said calmly. Sam agreed. Despite her questions, there was no real pressure to start an interrogation right now. Besides, Dr. Fraiser wouldn't allow for anything that could damage her patient until she felt the girl was psychologically stable enough to.

The girl nodded and took another deep breath before steeling herself and, looking around the room. Sam saw her eyes meet the concrete walls, the observation mirror above, and finally the people again.

She obviously didn't know what to say or ask because she kept silent, even when her eyes fell on Sam. For a moment, she smiled, and then she squinted and her smile fell to a frown. Sam could tell the moment when the girl realized Sam wasn't who she thought she was.

“O-okay, so not home,” she muttered to herself, her voice a bit shaky, but she just took another deep breath and nodded, probably reassuring herself that she was indeed safe. Then she looked up as Sam again.

"Where... am I?" she asked.

Sam and Salmak exchanged glances with Dr. Fraiser.

“You're on an Air Force base in America on Planet Earth, sometimes known as the 'Tau'ri',” Sam responded. “And Dr. Fraiser's right. You are safe here.”

The girl studied her for a few moments before nodding, although her eyes did flick to the handcuff on her right arm.

“How did I get here?”

“Well,” the voice of Sam's father almost startled her. “I think I'll head back out for a moment. I'll see you soon, Sam.”

The Major nodded as the man turned to leave. “Dad, send Daniel in, will you?”

Selmak (or her father, she really didn't think she'd ever get used to that) nodded before he ascended the stairs and exited the room.

Then Sam turned back to the girl. “I'm Major Samantha Carter. That man was my father, Jacob Carter, and of course you've met Dr. Fraiser.”

“I'm guessing that's Daniel,” she responded, nodding over he shoulder to where Daniel had come in and was approaching them.

Sam nodded. “Dr. Daniel Jackson, yes.”

“I'm Kylee,” she said softly. “Kylee Harwood..”

“Well, Kylee,” Dr. Fraiser said, “we have a couple of questions for you. Would you mind answering them?”

The girl looked around at everyone again, eyes calculating. “If you answer some of mine.”

“We'll do our best,” Sam replied with a nod and what she hoped was a reassuring smile. The girl must have sensed something was off, though, because she sighed.

“This is going to take a while, isn't it.”

She didn't say it like a question.

“Probably,” Sam responded truthfully.

The girl nodded. “Well, fire away.”

 

* * *

 

"So you have no idea how you got here?" Daniel asked, watching as Kylee played with one of the links in the handcuffs which kept her tethered to the bed, (for security reasons, they'd explained).

They'd been in there for quite a while asking questions that no one seemed to really know the answer to. A couple of minutes into the interrogation, Kylee had asked for water and that had been the only time she'd gotten off subject. Now that she'd quenched her thirst, she felt immensely better and like she could actually think straight. Her emotions still hid behind a shield of numbness for now, but she was functional.

"Not really, I just remember a bright light and then... well, a metal room, I guess. You were there... wow, that was cliche to say." She allowed herself to feel just a moment of levity before focusing back on the man in front of her. It wasn't a hard decision. He was cute for an older guy.

“And before we told you, you didn't know where you were?”

“No. Am I supposed to?”

"I suppose not,” he conceded. “What about where you were, before you came through the Stargate? Can you describe that place again?"

The question made her squint her eyes in confusion.

“The what?”

"Did you remember the big round ring? Shimmering liquid on the surface?" Major Carter piped in.

Kylee thought for several seconds before nodding. "Kinda. I mean, I think so. I don't... I don't really know what that is, but the last thing I remember was being held up into this energy stream of some kind... by an all-too-large monster. Called himself the 'Host'. After that it's a blur, and I told you what I remember from that."

"Do you know who the host is?" The old guy asked. He'd returned a couple of minutes after he'd initially left, as he'd been the one to bring in her water. Now he stood with Major Carter a little ways away, apparently content to let Dr. Jackson to question her and only adding in comments or questions here and there. Jacob asked, neither he nor Selmak had any answers for that.

Kylee wondered if she should say anything before mentally shrugging. Why not? "He was some… unholy lovechild of a Lovecraftian horror and The Predator. Twenty feet tall or so… Shot my leg." She winced. The memory of it hurt more than her leg did, kind of like a phantom pain. They told her that she'd arrived at the base without injury, so either the shot hadn't translated or the strange woman she remembered had healed her. For some reason, she'd decided not to tell them about that woman. It just didn't feel right for some reason.

So she decided to move on. "Anyway, the place I was at existed in between dimensions. Or in between realities, I guess. That's probably why you never heard of it'." She paused, glancing at Carter for a moment, before looking back at Daniel. They both looked surprised, but not as gobsmacked as she'd expected.

"Between realities?" Major Carter echoed. "That… probably explains where you're from. You are from another reality, right?"

"That's my guess,” Kylee replied, half expecting her opinion to be shut down. Instead, they just nodded and she wondered, again, what kind of a strange world she'd come to. She bit her lip and looked down at her lap, allowing herself to sink down into a more relaxed posture. She hoped she didn't look as impatient as she felt. This was getting frustrating. Especially when all she really wanted to do was just go home.

Somehow, she felt that might be a while yet.   


* * *

 

Kylee. Sam ran the name through her mind a moment, really just trying to imagine having an infant in her arms and being a mom. She met gazes with Jacob who gave her a knowing, sympathetic look before Sam shrugged. She'd made her decision a while ago and she was happy with it now... even if looking at Kylee made a pang of regret shoot through her heart.

"Do you know of a way to get back to your reality?" Daniel asked, obviously trying to redirect the conversation.

"No. Do you?" Kylee asked earnestly.

"Jury's still out on that one," Sam admitted.

"But we'll look into it,” Daniel assured her. “In the meantime we're just taking precautions. I hope you understand that."

"I guesso," Kylee gave a defeated sigh and glanced back over to Major Carter and her father.

"I have a question," Jacob asked after letting Daniel finish his line of questioning.

"Yeah?" Ky asked, looking over at the older man.

"Have you ever heard of a Goa'uld?"

 

* * *

 

Almost two hours after the girl had woken up, everyone had been more or less updated and SG-1 (and Jacob) waited on General Hammond's verdict. The bald man looked down at the girl still talking to Dr. Fraiser who had proceeded to conduct a routine psyche evaluation. This would be the last step in essentially get the girl her cleared for the base and out of quarantine if they deemed her safe enough. She'd already been cleared of contagions and now they just had to make sure there wasn't anything else that could put the base in danger now that she'd finally woken.

“So, she essentially has no information on anything in the known universe?”

“Essentially,” Sam confirmed.

Daniel, as always, seemed to feel he needed to explain. "She said she had no idea who the Goa'uld were, though she said she might have heard someone mention the presence of some mythological figures present in the audience in the Arena she was being held in," Daniel reported, frowning slightly. "Which may indicate that some system lords were in attendance."

Sam felt her lips firm but didn't otherwise say anything. She'd already tried multiple times to put herself in the girl's shoes and it just proceeded to make her angrier each time. The fact that this was her daughter from another reality didn't help.

"It's more unfortunate that she can't remember who exactly they were,” Jacob commented. “Then we'd at least know who to look out for."

He received silent agreement from the team.

After several seconds, the Tok'ra host reached over and indicated the recorded security feed.  
"More over, you'll want to see this,” he said as he pressed play. Apparently he'd taken the time to reach the point he wanted to emphasize because it played at the beginning of a sentence.  


* * *

 

_"Why would you have been brought to this gladiator arena? Why you, specifically?" Major Carter asked bluntly._

_Kylee turned her head away, her body language indicating she'd become very uncomfortable. She hesitated on the answer, looking as if she'd been backed into a corner. Then, she gave an exasperated sigh and looked up to the older blond, obviously hoping for some kind of mercy._

_"Promise you won't shoot me?" she finally asked with a wince._

_"I promise. We're not going to hurt you," the Major said, trying to ease the anxiety the girl clearly displayed. Understandable, considering how the girl had just woken up, not to mention the apparently traumatic events before that._

_The girl searched her interrogator's face for several seconds. Apparently, whatever found there satisfied her because she nodded and turned her palm up. It suddenly crackled with electricity as a small ball of electric plasma formed in air above her hand._

"The reason they went after me is because I can do this," she said with a forced calm before letting the electricity fizzle out with a crackle.  
  


__

"That and super speed..."  


* * *

General Hammond reached out and paused the video before looked to the gathered team, already overcoming his surprise. He was in command of the base for a reason. "Is that even possible for the human body?"

"Apparently, it is,” Major Carter responded, voice precise and matter-of-fact. “For whatever reason, that is her normal as far as we can tell." The woman glanced back to her father, wondering if he had any answers. He seemed to be in deep thought himself and didn't answer.

"Teal'c? Anything off world that could explain abilities like hers?" General Hammond asked when Jacob didn't say anything.

Teal'c frowned and didn't answer for a few seconds. When he did answer, however, his voice sounded as firm as ever. "The closest thing I have heard of is a hok'taur - a perfect being of immense power equal to the Gods. However, it is considered mostly legend."

"Why doesn't that put my mind at ease?” Jack asked, continuing to study the girl in the quarantine room below. Then, apparently, he decided to put his own questions out there.

“Has any one ever heard of the 'Host'?"

Jacob finally seemed to snap out of his thoughts. “Other than host bodies that the Gou'auld take, it's the first time either Selmak or I have heard of it. Right now, we're trying to figure out how a displacement could have taken place. Obviously whoever this 'Host' is it's a being of immense power. From where I'm standing, She's lucky to have gotten out of there at all." And coming from Jacob – let alone Selmak – that held a bit of weight.

"What's your impression of her, Major?" Hammond asked. Sam had been expecting that question. She was kind of surprised it had taken this long to get around to it, actually.

"Honestly, Sir, I don't see a reason why she isn't exactly what she's presented. She's worried and confused and understandably scared, but she's also been extremely forthcoming. I think the fact she came forward with her abilities is telling." The blond tightened her lips and looked down at the girl, still a bit nervous about the situation herself. She could empathize with how Kylee was feeling right now on quite a few levels.

“I'm with Sam,” Daniel agreed. “Nothing she said or did hinted at any ulterior motives. We still may want to run her through some tests to make sure she isn't subconsciously programmed...”

Those that didn't shudder suppressed one.

“Can we get your testing equipment?” General Hammond asked Jacob.

"I'll contact the base and ask,” the Tok'ra confirmed. “I don't know how long I'll be able to stay, but I do want to see if we can learn more. From what Selmak has sensed, she is basically family."

"Dad…" Carter protested.

"Maybe not directly. I know. It's just worth considering," the older man said with a watery smile as he put a hand on his daughter's shoulder.

"Say, Carter's,” Jack's voice broke the moment and everyone turned to see he hadn't moved from his spot, although he did have an expression on his face that looked somewhere between impressed and wary. “Either of you any good at picking locks?"

"A little. Why?" Sam replied, wondering where the heck that question had come from.

O'Neill reached for the intercom and pressed it.

"Hey kid," he said, "how'd you slip the cuff?"

Everyone turned and crowded around the room as Kylee looked up at them (despite the fact that she couldn't see them). Surely enough, both of her hands were free and the handcuffs dangled limply off the side of the bed. Even Dr. Fraiser looked surprised. So she'd managed to do so without the good Doctor even knowing... and they hadn't stopped conversing as far as the Stargate crew knew.

Kylee, for her part, looked abashed as she glanced at Dr. Fraiser, who returned her gaze somewhat disappointingly.

 

The girl offered a sheepish smile, she replied: "Uuuh… Magnets?"

Jack glanced to Sam, as if it were somehow her fault. In a way, based on the data, it was. He managed to look approving even as he seemed to blame her. She shot him an unimpressed look until he shrugged and turned back to the window. Then he hit the com button again.

"Put the cuff back on and wait until we undo it for you, alright?"

Kylee pouted slightly, before doing as she was told. She put a finger to the mechanism. Sam didn't see much but the handcuffs clicked open and the girl clicked it shut around her wrist again before laying back in the bed.

“Happy?” she asked, sounding like a petulant teenager. It hit Sam as to how young this girl was. She couldn't be older than 21. An adult, sure, but still growing into her own.

Jack smirked slightly and looked to General Hammond. "Situation averted, Sir."

Hammond's expression was just about as dry as Sam's. "I can see that,” he replied before turning his own attention to the girl. “Obviously, she cannot be taken lightly. However, I'm going to maintain my initial assessment. I'll have quarters prepared for her, but she'll be under armed guard until further notice.”

"Yes, Sir," Sam replied, relieved in spite of herself. Then she looked down at the room on the other side of the mirror again. A hand on her shoulder had her looking over and she smiled at her father, grateful for his presence right then.

 

* * *

 

After the room was set up, Major Carter went down to let Dr. Frasier release Kylee into her custody. She explained General Hammond's decision and how it was in their best interest to give her the benefit of the doubt, but take precautions. Kylee, for herself, appreciate the candor. They made no attempts to hide the weapons, even the strange snake-like thing that she'd never seen before in Major Carter's holster along with a gun on the other side and while it wasn't comforting, per se, it was refreshing.

Of course, after keeping some pretty hefty secrets for the past year, she supposed it wasn't particularly strange that this was what she appreciated most.

“So, Kylee," Major Carter said with a friendly smile as she reached over to unlock the cuffs. "You hungry? I figured I Might as well introduce you to our cafeteria. And don't let Colonel O' Neill fool you. He'll say it's one of the most objectionable places on the base, but it's actually pretty good.”

Kylee couldn't help but perked up a bit as she rubbed at her wrist now that she was officially free of them.

“Yes, please,” she said, perhaps a bit too quickly. Major Carter just seemed to find that amusing.

Almost as if on cue, Dr. Fraiser returned to her bedside, handing over a set of army fatigues and slip on shoes. They weren't exactly her preference, but they did look somewhat comfortable at least.

"Sure, thanks." She slid off the bed, reaching out for them when everything started to spin. Her knees felt weak and it took a couple of seconds and a lot of willpower to keep standing.

"Take it easy now. You're probably low on blood sugar," the Doctor admonished.

"Aah, yeah," Kylee heard herself reply meekly, wobbling a bit before finding her landlegs. When she was sure she wouldn't face-plant, she reached for the clothes again and examined them.

"With abilities like yours, I bet it burns a lot of energy," Carter remarked, looking her over.

"Oh, yeah,” Kylee responded, wondering how she could ask for a bit of privacy. She was proud of her body, but changing in front of strangers wasn't something she particularly wanted to do if she didn't have to. “Try eating 5000 calories or more a day."

Her response invoked a surprised breath from the Doctor and raised eyebrows from the Major. After a moment, she ducked behind the curtain to change. Deciding to test her speed, she quickly switched from the patient gown to the military clothes she'd seen everyone else except the General in (he wore a uniform at all times, apparently). She knew it wasn't the best idea given how low energy she was, but she pushed on, wanting to get this all done and over with.

It was totally worth it to see Major Carter's eyes widen when she stepped out from behind the curtain, fully clothed, a few seconds later. Said curtain was still settling, and if the Major was half the scientist she seemed to be, she'd probably taken in as much detail as she could.

"Well,” the older woman exhaled after a moment. "We'll make sure to get you lots of carbs."

 

The girl grinned cheekily at her. "Steak and potatoes, right?" Because the whole military thing.

The Major looked a lot less intimidating with a smirk on her face. It wasn't her mom, but Kylee was beginning to like her anyway.

"Something like that,” Major Carter replied before gesturing over her shoulder with her head. “C'mon."

  



	3. Reaching out

  
The SGC has had it's fair share of strange occurrences, from invisible alien invaders, to marauding infiltrators wearing holograms of SGC officers, to sentient microscopic aliens. Although, due to recent events, it probably wasn't unusual or unexpected that the particular situation plaguing Sam's mind revolved around their interactions with alternate versions of SGC officers. For the last several hours, she'd sat, staring at her computer screen and going over each related memory in her mind. Nothing really shed light onto their current situation.  
  
So lost in her thoughts was she, that it took her several minutes to notice that the last diagnostic check she'd run on the dialing program (and related recorded information) had finished. Setting her thoughts to the side for now, Sam sat up quickly and began to go over the displayed results, paying specific attention to the moments they'd been in the wormhole between their destination planet and Earth. Surely enough, micro seconds before the recording showed them stepping out, she found a spike of energy. Just enough for the gate systems to pick it up, but not enough to really set off any alarms. She'd bet her job that those spikes signified the moment Kylee had entered the matter stream of the wormhole, as she couldn't have been more than a couple of steps behind them.  
  
Sam recorded her findings before turning back to watch the video recording of the gateroom at that point. Kylee stumbled out of the wormhole, obviously tired and disoriented, then leaning on Teal'c's arm, reaching towards Sam, collapsing... them discussing while a gurney came in to take the newcomer away. It had all happened so fast, but had then been followed by two slow days of the girl sleeping off her trauma.  
  
Something she seemed to be very good at, seeing as she was doing the exact same thing now. Then again, a sleeping recovery seemed about right for a girl her age, although even in her sleep she seemed to burning calories in a very not-normal way.  
  
Sam absently smirked as she recalled how her father reacted to watching the rather petite girl shovel down three full portions of various foodstuffs and proceed to pass out almost immediately upon entering her new quarters. Needing time to process everything, Sam could definitely understand, especially given the extraordinary circumstances. Fighting something straight out of Lovecraft? She wasn't exactly familiar with the reading material (had always found better things to do with her time than read horror) but she knew enough to understand just about how far out there the whole idea was.  
  
A hand settled on her shoulder and she looked up to see her father and gave a small smile.

 

  
"Hey Dad."  
  
"How're you holding up?" Jacob asked.  
  
“You sound apprehensive,” Sam said suspiciously.  
  
He shrugged. “It's not like your super-powered granddaughter from another universe happens stop by every day, and... I know this must be a lot to take in. It's a huge shock to us all, but you especially. Nobody could have predicted something like this happening.”  
  
Sam sighed. He wasn’t wrong. “How am I doing?” she repeated, shaking her head. "I wish I had a good answer for that. I don't know where to start trying to figure out how I feel about this. Even with everything that goes on around here, most things don't exactly hit this close to home.” How was she supposed to come to terms that out there, somewhere, another version of her had chosen to not have anything to do with the Air Force; who had chosen instead to settle down and have a family. It had boggled her mind when her alternate had confessed she hadn't joined the Air Force, but at least she'd still been a part of the Stargate program. At least she'd still chosen to dedicate herself to her work.  
  
But this? As far as she knew, Kylee's mother – her alternate – had given all of that up. It wasn't like she thought of it as a bad choice, per se, just... different. So different that she couldn't really comprehend it, even if she felt she understood... and yet none of it really seemed to make sense in her mind.  
  
That didn't even take into account the almost statistically impossible reality of superpowers. Where had Kylee gotten them? How? And how did her human body cope so well? What kind of genetics were they working with here?  
  
Overwhelming didn't begin to cover it all.  
  
"You're not the only one who doesn't really know what to think," Jacob pointed out wryly. "It certainly boggles my mind. Probably wouldn't have known what to do if I'd been around when another you popped by for help." Jacob rubbed her shoulder a bit, until she turned around.  
  
"I'd be lying if I didn't say that's been on my mind all morning. It's... not exactly the same, but if the threat of entropic cascade failure hadn't made it impossible for her to exist in this reality, you'd have ended up with a second daughter," Sam admitted. “We're lucky we don't have to deal with those side effects now.”  
  
"I'll take your word for it on that one," Jacob replied, shuddering a little. Sam wasn’t sure if her father knew what she was talking about, or if Selmak was the one who shuddered.  
  
"Honestly, at this point I just hope that I'm not some secret mad scientist in her world. I mean, abilities like that have to come from somewhere. Unless I… I mean she, married an alien." Which honestly wasn't something she could readily dismiss. She had been smitten with more than one alien entity in the last few years. Martouf's death was a recent tragedy for her as well, so she wasn't exactly in the market for something new, but somehow, Sam doubted that would be the last incident regarding relationships with off-planet beings.  
  
Jacob snorted lithly. “The Alien thing, I can see,” then his voice turned softer, "but Sam, there's no universe I can imagine where you'd do that to a kid so don't you start worrying about that. Besides, I'm sure she'll tell you her story, if you ask. All I've seen so far is a young woman with obviously good intentions trying to cope with an unexpected occurrence and the consequences thereof.” He held up a hand as if to stop a protest, even though Sam hadn’t been about to say anything, “I know that we've been taken in before, but I really can't believe that that's the case here.”  
  
Sam couldn't help but relax at his firm words. "You're right, dad.”  
  
“I'm your father. I'm supposed to be right.”  
  
She sniggered and rolled her eyes at her father before sobering. “That doesn't stop it from being more than a little awkward." She sighed softly, realizing how that was the understatement of the year, well, outside of some of the things she's heard Col. O'Neill say.  
  
After a few more moments of awkward silence, she looked down and checked the clock, seeing that it was only half an hour’ til Kylee was due to meet General Hammond. The meeting in and of itself should be fairly brief as it was only to meet him, and for her to understand exactly what the situation was. It would also be the first and best opportunity she and Jacob would have to really get to talk to her about, well, everything.  
  
“Are you going to the meeting?” she finally asked her father. He nodded and she returned the gesture.  
  
"Alright, I'll go check up on her and meet you in the briefing room," she said as she stood.  
  
"See you then," Jacob acknowledged, departing from the lab to attend to his own business. Sam knew he had a meeting with General Hammond to exchange intelligence. She wondered how much Tok'ra would allow him to divulge.  
  


* * *

  
  
The reality off the situation – basically falling into the lap of a military outfit – had Kylee on high alert. It made her nervous, and maybe it was just that she'd already gone through hell that she was pacing the floor at a normal pace, arms crossed and chewing on her thumbnail. In contrast to her regular-speed pacing, her thoughts flew through her in rapid fire. There were so many things wrong with this and she had no idea how to address it. Just the fact that she had been somehow flung nearly twenty years in the past (according to Dr. Fraiser) was bad enough, but the dopplegangers and alternate realities? Things like those were supposed to be  strictly sci-fi fodder.  
  
Of course she'd figured a lot of those ideas were, in fact, possible ever since she'd gotten her powers, but that didn't mean she wasn't surprised -- shocked even. There were so many complicated feelings she had to sort through right now. And what would happen to her? Would they use her as some sort of experiment? Dissect her? Try to lock her away as too dangerous despite the fact that she'd tried to be as helpful and honest as she could be?  
  
Part of her knew that her fears were unfounded. They had to be just as worried and confused about her as she was about them. That didn't stop her imagination from running away with her.  
  
Of course, that's when the Major walked into the room, reading through some papers on a clipboard like Dr. Fraiser tended to do. Then she glanced up and smiled reassuringly at Kylee. Seeing her mom's smile on someone else didn't do a whole lot to put her mind at ease, but she forced herself to return it as best she could.  
  
“Well, let's get down to business, shall we?” the older blond asked. “When General Hammond gets here, we’re going to go over some of the tests we’d like to run.”  
  
“W-what kind of tests are you going to do?” Kylee asked, unable to hide her worry. This was, after all, following over a year of nightmares of discovery happening in front of her. Could anyone really blame her?  
  
Major Carter blinked. “Nothing that should hurt you,” she said reassuringly. “You're still a human and you have rights.”  
  
Well, that did make her feel a bit better. “Okay,” she said with a nod. “What do you need, then?”

* * *

  
  
Sam had watched Kylee for a while before entering the room. Gone was the outgoing 'just glad to be alive' attitude she had sported when the girl had been dismissed from the infirmary. Now, all Sam saw were raw nerves. Probably from reality hitting her like a freight train. It had to be rough, given all the rules they'd put on her already. And honestly, Sam doubted that was the end of it. The fact that there was no real guarantee they could get her back to her world undoubtedly didn't help. Still, Sam knew they were going to try to make the adjustment as easy as possible.  
  
Watching this girl pace back and forth as though she was awaiting a jury's verdict though, Sam knew she needed to nip this (admittedly understandable) worry in the bud. So she walked into the room, trying to be as positive as possible and reassure her that they had no intention of infringing on her basic human rights.  
  
“Okay,” the girl said with a nod. “What do you need, then?”  
  
Sam smiled and reached for the girl's shoulder, intending to reassure her, but instantly regretted it.  
  
"Ow!" she yelled as pain shot through her hand. She pulled it back and took a couple of steps away. A spark of electricity had lashed out at her before she'd even been able to touch her.  
  
Kylee's eyes went wide in horror. "Major! Oh, no... I am so sorry.” She reached out towards Sam, who backed off a bit more, having no desire to feel that again. Looking rather lost, Kylee slowly drew her arms in close at the woman's reaction. She thinned her lips, moving her arms like she didn't know where to put them, then looking to Sam apologetically. “It... it happens sometimes when I get nervous... I... um...”  
  
"No, it's okay," Sam said, mostly to placate the situation. It was an accident after all. She glanced down to the red spot on her hand then looked to Kylee. There wasn't much she could do at the moment aside from try to help her calm down. Well, that was one heck of a natural defense. But they'd touched her before without having any issues. Perhaps she lost control during high-stress? Hmm, they'd have to keep an eye on that, but for now, Sam was willing to look past it.  
  
"Why don't you take a seat?" she offered, allowing her face to soften.  
  
"I'd rather stand..." Kylee mumbled softly, meeting eyes with Sam before looking away.  
  
"Okay…" Sam said (what else could she say right now?) before turning her head. Her father and the General were supposed to be here soon anyway. Thankfully, not a minute later (although the awkwardness made it feel much longer), Jacob and the General stepped into the room.  
  
Her father sent her a smile before approaching Kylee and looked her over. Honestly, in the fatigues and air force tee she wore, she looked like she had managed to recover. Physically at least. Sam could tell that her father felt a bit sympathetic for her. Sam did too. The girl was, after all, lost, confused, and scared of an uncertain future. Hopefully they could help her with that.  
  
"Hi, Kylee. I'm Jacob, Sam's father," he said with a bright smile that had always put Sam at ease.  
  
Sam saw the surprise in the girl's eyes as she glanced between the two relatives. Then her eyes widened even further as she put two and two together.  
  
The major couldn't help but wonder how long it would take before the girl took Sam up on her offer and just sat down.  
  


* * *

  
  
“Hi, Kylee. I'm Jacob, Sam's father,” the older man said with a kind smile that almost succeeded in putting her at ease. Almost.  
  
It took her a couple of minutes to fit the puzzle pieces in her head, but when she did, she couldn't help her surprise. She'd never met her maternal grandfather... at least she didn't remember doing so. She been, what, two when he died? Something like that. She had a couple of pictures of her sitting on his lap, though. And they did look... similar. She had to shake the thought from her head, biting her lip as she pulled her mind into the here and now. These weren't the same as the people she knew back home. She had to remember that.  
  
"And I'm… Kylee,” she ventured, hoping she sounded more sure than she felt. “But you knew that already, 'cause you just said it and... um...” Well, what a great impression. And she doubted her first impression earlier had been much better. Joy.  
  
"True, though it's nice to have a proper introduction,” Jacob said diplomatically.  
  
"Heh. S'pose so," Kylee responded with a weak smile. That seemed to be enough for the older man.  
  
"Kylee, this is General Hammond. He's our commanding officer," Sam explained, gesturing to the other bald man in the room. He had an intimidating presence, but offered a kind smile and a hand.  
  
"Good to meet you, miss.”  
  
"Aah,” Kylee exhaled, drawing to center herself a little before she took the hand and shook it. She noticed Sam visibly tensing as they did so. She frowned. Did the Major honestly think that she had no control? That had been an accident. To get her point across, she shot the older woman a dry look. 

  
  
When nothing happened, other than Ky's hair sticking up a little more than usual, Sam relaxed.  
  
"You too?" Kylee said, returning her attention to the man in front of her before withdrawing the appendage and shoving her hands into her pockets.  
  
"Please, be seated," General Hammond said, gesturing to one of the many seats around the table. Kylee met eyes with Sam for just a moment. The woman raised her eyebrows in amusement and nodded to the table. She could just imagine her actual mother saying, 'Time to play ball, kiddo.'  
  
Withholding a sigh, she took the nearest chair – one that happened to be very near the head of the table where the General took his place – and carefully sat down. Everyone else seemed to follow her lead, with Jacob coming to sit on her right and Sam heading to the other side of the table and sitting across from her.

  
  
After a few moments of silence while everyone got situated, the General turned to her.  
  
"Now, I understand that you may have had a difficult set of circumstances in your turning up here.” Kylee couldn't help but nod ironically at that. The General kept his attention on her, speaking earnestly. “I assure you, we're doing everything in our power to make sure that you can recover and if possible, return to your original reality."  
  
Kylee couldn't help but feel relieved at his words. She felt a great deal calmer than she had did mere moments ago in any case.  
  
He went on. "I don't want to give your hopes up, but we've been discussing possible ways to get you home.”  
  
Her confusion must have shown on her face because Sam spoke up, still looking amused. “We’ve dealt with this sort of thing before."  
  
"You've traveled to another reality and in time? Like, at the same time?" Kylee asked, unable to keep her skepticism out of her voice. That was sort of displacement was kind of hard to comprehend, and while Kylee was no expert on the subject, she did have a working understanding of it.  
  
"Not exactly,” Sam said, still sounding calm and confident. “Well, not simultaneously, but we have done both on separate occasions. I'm not going to lie to you, it might take some time – years even – but seeing as you made it here in one piece it has to be possible. If there is a way to do it, we'll find it."  
  
"In the meantime you'll be given quarters and amenities here. However, due to the circumstances, I'm assigning an escort to you. There are areas of this base that will be off limits and for now, you will be confined to base. Do you understand?" General Hammond asked with a firm, audible authority that came with years of leadership experience.  
  
Kylee didn't like the sound of that, but it was better than being locked in a room... or worse. This really was 'best case scenario' considering. "Yes…" She didn't have to call him sir, did she?  
  
"For the time being that's the best we can do, but I want you to know that you are not a prisoner and we'll do our best to make your stay here with us as comfortable as possible under the circumstances," he assured.  
  
“W-what if...” she started, then looked away, unable to voice her concerns. She really didn’t  want to say it.  
  
Thankfully, he knew what she'd been asking. "In the event that you are unable to return home, we will assist in finding more permanent accommodations.”  
  
Kylee tried not to wince and instead forced herself to nod. This short conversation had already gone a long way to soothe a lot of her worry. Her previous experience in the hands of a military organization hadn't exactly been positive, but then again they had been practically aliens.  
  
Of course, the last time she was in a facility like this – deep underground – she'd received super powers, and while that wasn’t one of her favorite memories, she wouldn’t trade it for the world.  
  
“Thank you, General Hammond,” she finally said, smiling at the older man. “I appreciate that.”  
  
The General nodded and glanced at the other two people at the table. Kylee followed his gaze, her own landing on the woman sitting across from her. This woman who looked so familiar yet was so different. It was almost like looking at an old photograph of her mom, given that there was a twenty year difference. The corners of her lips tugged somewhat as Sam's eyes met hers before Kylee turned  
 away.

* * *

  
Sam saw the girl glance at her before looking away. She didn't know exactly what that look was, something of a mix of grief and uncertainty? Yeah, she really felt for the kid. After a moment, she turned to address her father.  
  
"Is there anything the Tok'ra can do?"  
  
Jacob shook his head. "Nothing that I or Selmak can think of. If anything comes up you'll be the first to know," he said, studying the girl, whose bright blue eyes were turned down towards the floor, carefully.  
  
“Um,” Kylee spoke quietly, “who's Selmak?”  
  
Sam exchanged looks with the two bald men.  
  
“We'll explain later,” she assured.  
  
“If there's nothing else,” the General said.  
  
Sam shook her head and went to stand.  
  
"General,” her father spoke up, surprising both of them. “If it's possible can we have some time alone to talk to Kylee?"  
  
Sam blinked for a moment, then bit her lip at that request. When the General turned to her, eyebrows raised in question, she nodded in agreement. She had questions, and she thought maybe it was time to have a less 'official' talk with her. Try to calm her nerves about all of this.  
  
"Of course. Take as much time as you need," the General replied. Thankfully, he seemed to realize that they all needed a bit of breathing room. He rose from his seat and went to return to his office without looking back. Sam had always appreciated that about her superior officer. He was terse, to the point and efficient, but not coldly so.  
  
Once only the three of them remained, the two older occupants returning their gaze to the girl. Sam could see her father studying Kylee, trying to pick out any of the traits he recognized; family traits. She found herself doing the same, picking up the a couple of things that reminded Sam of herself, her father and her mother. There were a couple of other features that Sam didn't recognize and she wondered, yet again, who Kylee's father had been.  
  
She rubbed her arms, realizing that her arm hairs were standing on end and wondered if that was due to Kylee's electrical discharge.  
  
Then her father cleared his throat.  
  


* * *

  
  
Jacob cleared his throat, which seemed to cause Kylee to eye both of them suspiciously for a moment before the same lost and confused but analytical look appeared on her face, as though she was trying to think of a way out of this. Jacob wanted to laugh. Their family never had been the best at personal talk. Fortunately, Selmak was in tune with Jacob in this. Family, even as distant as this, was important. He should at least extend a hand to her.  
  
Kylee continued to look between them for several seconds before she lowered her gaze to her crossed arms.  
  
“That... went smoother than I expected,” she admitted. Jacob nodded in agreement. The girl obviously felt trapped, but seemed to appreciate their efforts.  
  
"So,” Kylee said before he could speak up, “there's a couple of elephants in the room we should probably take a look at.”  
  
"That's one way of putting it," Sam echoed the same glib tone as the girl. Jacob could definitely see the resemblance.  
  
"One of em being that more likely than not I'm stuck here, barring a miracle. Yeah?" Her expression fell again and Jacob felt his heart reaching out to the girl. “I mean, it’s not that difficult to read between the lines.”  
  
"We won't give up hope,” his daughter said firmly. “In the meantime, I'd like to discuss with you the results of a test Dr. Fraser conducted while you were unconscious yesterday." Jacob started, meeting eyes with Sam briefly before continuing.  
  
"You had a DNA match with my daughter," he gestured to the woman in question. Sam nodded, smiling, even though Jacob could tell she was nervous. It was the way she folded her hands and looked up at the girl to gauge her reaction. Jacob kept an eye on the girl out of the corner of his eye.  
  
Kylee's eyes widened as she seemed to put a few pieces together of a puzzle she had going on in her head.  
  
"I…" She looked uncertain, as though even while she had figured something out, she didn't necessarily know what to do with the answer.  
  
“That’s weird.” She finally said, reaching up to her chin and looking thoughtful yet confused. “I mean I’m not that surprised, really. The resemblance is uncanny, but my mom isn’t in the military, she’s just… y’know. Normal. A little ahead of the curve, maybe, but aside from being my mom… like, I dunno. Normal, boring, average… Not even named Samantha… You’re more like a cosmic twin sister of hers than anything else.”    
  
"Cosmic twin sister, huh? Pretty accurate way of putting it. " Sam replied. There had been a tug of her lips when Kylee had described her mother as ‘ahead of the curb.’, but she looked as though she was conceding the point. Jacob wasn’t sure if it was because it put distance between her and the girl’s mother or if if it was just logically sound.  
  
"According to Multiverse theory, there is an ever growing number of parallel realities running concurrent with our own. Obviously there are some alternate timelines that have dramatically different results to historical events, just like the Goa’uld invasion of Earth for example. It didn’t go well for a lot of other realities. We’re one of the few realities in which we survived,” Sam explained, but then looked to Kylee. “Her’s must just be different in other ways.”  
  
Kylee raised her eyebrows, glancing to Jacob who shrugged. That was up to her to confirm or comment on.  
  
“Well, I don’t know that we have a stargate, but that seems like a big deal so I guess if the multiverse is infinite then there are just as many universes where one exists as where it doesn’t.  Same goes for the conditions that allowed for super powers to happen. There’s probably some version where both happened.” Kylee said, thought trailing off as though she didn’t want to admit that there was a possibility that in some universe, Sam really was her mother.  
   
Kylee’s response made Jacob grin at Sam, given that it echoed her statement so succinctly.  
  
Sam pressed her lips together, clearly amused -- maybe even a little impressed -- at the statement.  
  
"Be that as it may," Jacob started, hoping that the young lady would be receptive to what he was about to say."If nothing else, if you do end up staying here for the foreseeable future, we'd like to do what we can to make you feel at home." He said, as gently as a seasoned veteran could.  
  
"You mean as family?" Kylee clearly somewhat surprised at the offer, the puzzlement on her face told Jacob that much. She hadn’t expected that.  
  
"If that's what you want." Jacob said, offering a soft smile.  
  
Carter's lips thinned, but she nodded just slightly. That apprehensive look returned to her face as her eyes met his.  
  
There was long pause before Kylee spoke.  
  
"I...don’t really know.” Kylee admitted, looking guilty as she said it.  
  
"But they say that blood is thicker than water.  And if you were in my situation, my family wouldn’t turn you away.” Possibly after the complicated notion of alternate universes were discussed. “Maybe that’s just one constant in the multiverse.”  
  
Sam lowered her eyes, the corners of her mouth still tugged upwards into a wry impressed smile.  
  
"You seem to know a lot about quantum theory,” she said.  
  
"I know what a quark is,” Kylee replied in an almost self deprecating tone which reminded Jacob somewhat of Jack O’Neill. “You see in the future we have this thing called science fiction. And y’know, Youtube.”  
  
  
“It’s a start.” Sam granted her that much.  
  
“Youtube?” Jacob asked, curiously.  
  
“Oh are you serious? They don’t have that yet?” The young girl asked in disbelief.  
  
“Um, no, not yet. Hopefully you won’t have to wait that long,” Sam said, unhelpfully.  
  
“Any chance you can try sending me a couple years into the future?” Kylee didn’t miss a beat on that one, looking flustered but otherwise her mood had shifted into something a bit more amicable.  
  
Jacob just gave Sam a knowing smile, there was definitely a bit of her in this girl which meant whoever Ky’s mother had turned out to be, she really wasn’t so different from Sam.  
  
Sam gave a small smile in return but turned her focus back to Ky.  
  


* * *

  
  
"I think you'll fit in here just fine, Kylee. And despite whatever happened before you came here, you're here now. You're safe, and, at the very least, we'll be here for you. I can promise you that," Sam said, offering her own olive branch to the girl.  
   
Ky dipped her head, nodding and cracking a soft smile at Sam's willingness to help her. She usually wasn’t this shy but the circumstances ended up making it hard not feel her cheeks flush.  
  
“Yeah. Um. Thanks, you guys. I appreciate that,” she said, leaning back in the chair, just starting to really relax. Her eyes turned towards the windows overlooking the gateroom again, curiously.  
  
“Don’t mention it,” Sam replied, said following her gaze, and gesturing towards it as she stood. Kylee took her lead, followed by Jacob.  
  
She looked down upon the gate, brows raising as she took it in. Sure, it looked cool and all, but like it could transport someone to another world? No. “How does it work? Is it magnetic?”  
  
“It’s basically a giant super conductor,” Sam explained.  
  
“That must be where all the rumbling comes from,” he girl muttered, pressing her hands against the glass briefly as she tried to get a better look.  
  
“You can feel it working from five floors up?” Sam asked with disbelief.  
  
“I think so. That must be it. I didn’t know what it was until I was sitting in this room.” Sitting only a hundred feet from it. It wasn’t even turned on.  
  
“How do your powers work?” Sam asked almost automatically.  
  
“Uh...” Kylee hesitated, looking to her as she searched for the right way to explain. it.  
  
“I absorb kinetic energy and convert it into electricity,” She finally said, glancing around the room, her eyes settling on a pot of coffee. Electricity jumped off her body and her form blurred and disappeared before returning to where she started in the seconds later with a cup of coffee in her hand.  
  
“Oh. That’s...” Sam, somewhat wary of the electrical crackles that soon dissipated off the girl’s form. Jacob however simple smiled.  
  
“Remarkable,” he said, finishing the thought. Fearlessly, he walked over to Kylee and put a hand on her shoulder as they looked on over the stargate.

  
  
“I guess I speak for all of us then, when I say, welcome to Stargate Command.” Kylee set the coffee down, crossing her arms as he gave the shoulder a squeeze as the trio looked down upon the stargate and all of it’s wonder.


	4. Adjustments

The lab had a life of it’s own, but then most labs Kylee had ever been in tended to have a unique personality to it. The technology lining the walls seemed to be archaic, and judging by the landline telephones this was truly a bygone era technologically she was witnessing. She was used to a world where everything was connected and compact, where as here there seemed to be a clunky machine for every little thing.  
  
Laying on a gurney, she was dressed in only the bare minimum of a tanktop and shorts with sensors glued to every main muscle group, and a set adhered to her forehead as well. She almost second guessed her decision to agree to the tests, but brushed the thought aside, mostly because she had never had the chance to do an empirical study on her powers and she trusted Sam enough to allow her to get the data, at least to a certain degree.

Part of her wondered if she trusted this person because she looked like her mother, but figured that the SGC hadn’t given her a reason to distrust them. It would likely be a matter of getting used to Samantha Carter as a person, and to make sure the lines between her and her mother didn’t get crossed.  
  
Sam’s assurance and kindness certainly reminded Kylee of her mother and undoubtedly had a lot to do with their new rapport and how the military organization had managed to win her trust so far. Then again, Kylee tried to give everyone a fair shot as a general rule. And she was curious.

That didn’t mean that her tolerance for these tests wasn’t beginning to wear thin. She couldn’t help but fidget uncomfortably as she was left to sit quietly for long stretches of time (that were probably minutes but felt like hours). Normally it would bother her, she was a speedster and sitting still just didn’t sit well with her. The fact that she had nothing to distract her from the weight of her recent memories made this particularly difficult to bear. There was no escape from them, nothing like the hundreds of things she could do back home, videogames, fighting real crime, even studying for class.

  
Repressing a sigh, she turned her thoughts to her person, wondering if she was actually in fighting shape. Would she get aggro on some thief and fry them on accident like she had shocked Sam the other day? She did, after all, have blood on her hands.

Exhaling heavily again, she clenched her eyes together briefly before reaching up to pick at one of the censors on her forehead iratably, glancing to Sam with some hope that it would be over soon or that she would at least talk to her for a while.  
  
Something must have shown on her face, because the older woman glanced at her for a moment before sending her a short smile. "Hang in there,” Sam said with a patient tone. Those blue eyes of hers obviously trying and reassure her.  
  
“You’re asking a lot, Sammy,” Kylee replied, lowering her hand to her chest. “If it helps I can turn it up a notch."

  
“I’d rather not short the censors. Also just Sam, please,” Sam said as she focused on her work, glancing up only once at the teasing.  
  
“Sammy is cute," Ky protested, though smiling wryly.  
  
“True, but I outgrew that when I was little." Sam looked wistful for a moment, Ky smiling a bit trying to imagine a little girl, too big for her britches demanding to be called Sam like a grown up. That was how she read that admission, anyway.

“You’re at rest but your nerve response is at least five times what we would expect with your body type. These readings are extraordinary,” The Major muttered, charting off the results as they came in.  
  
“Can I sit up?” Kylee asked, squirming uncomfortably in her seat and tapping her fingers still against the bed. She didn’t even realize she was doing it, but Sam was watching her, frowning slightly.  
  
The older woman sighed, but her frown turned into a gentle smile before she nodded  
  
“I’ll extrapolate the numbers from the readings I’ve already taken, just try to stay still. Five more minutes,” Sam said in the most diplomatic tone she could offer.  
  
Ky shrugged, pulling her knees to her chest and, resting her arms over them, five more minutes she could do. Mental math, or something. By the time she ran through all the tables she could think of, she looked up at the digital clock. Four more minutes. Good grief.  
  
“Ky, why don’t you tell me something about yourself?” Sam suggested, trying to distract her from herself, or at least fill the time. Ky looked up at her, not quite sure what she was asking her.  
  
“What do you like to do?”  
  
“Well…” There were many ways to answer that question, including communicating the boring everyday interests that she had.  Music, cooking, video games, the same things most people had common interests in. Then there was the thing she had that was fairly unique to her, and was foreign to this world.  Her being a superhero, was most certainly something she liked to do.  
  
The more pressing question was how to say it without sounding like foolish or crazy, and whether or not she should even mention it at all.  
  
May as well just come out and say it.  
  
“I fight crime in my spare time," She pressed her lips together, knowing the sort of reaction she would get considering how alien her super powers had seemed to them.

* * *

  
  
Sam looked up at the young woman, brows raised at the comment about her being a superhero. Like from comics, but then with a outfit like the one she had stepped through the gate wearing, it shouldn’t come as too much of a shock.   
  
Still, it was surprising.  
  
“Really? Superheroes… I really didn’t think they were…”  
  
“Possible?”  
  
“Viable," Sam corrected. She once had superhuman strength, speed like Kylee’s, and almost all natural abilities amplified. It was not at all impossible for Kylee to have super speed and electrical abilities, it was just difficult to explain on paper how it was done. It wasn’t a retrovirus like it was with the three non-Gou’auld SGC members, this was genetic.  
  
“How do you mean?” It was more of a prompt to continue, rather than a question made out of ignorance.  
  
“Well, there are laws that would prohibit most vigilante crime fighting. Breaking and entering, searching without a warrant, collateral damage… just to name a few," Sam said, reaching for the sensors on her forehead and carefully detaching them and setting them in the on the table beside her.  
  
“Well, there’s good samaritan laws. You don’t have to violate someone’s privacy to catch them in the act. Besides that, we have super powered bad guys who regularly cause trouble and we had our hands full dealing with them," Kylee replied, reaching for her shoulder and gently prying off one of the pads.  
  
“We?” Sam looked up at her, finding herself ever more curiouser about the situation as they spoke about it. ”So there were more than just you."  
  
“I had friends. Three of which got their powers the same time I did," Kylee replied, taking another pad off. They had little tiny spikes in the bottom so the process was rather delicate. Sam gazed at her sympathetically and tapped her ankles to signal her to stretch out so she could help.  
  
“You’re saying you weren’t born with your powers?”. Sam asked, gently tugging on Ky’s ankes to signal her to stretch them out so she could help her pull some of them off. The fact that she wasn’t born with her powers ticked off yet another theory, although it was one of the least likely at this point. She supposed she should just listen to her father and ask, but at least it had allowed them to get this experiment mostly over with.  
  
“Nope. I’ve had them for a year or so," Kylee said, as a rather bemused smirk befell her face, while Sam turned back to her computer. Sam had only noticed the smile out of the corner of her eyes but was too focused on her work. She was pulled away from her concentration, though, when she felt her bangs lift off her forehead. She looked up just as Ky ran a hand through the older woman’s hair, then raise her own hand to feel her hair sticking up, then shooting Kylee a look.

"Very funny," Sam said, turning her gaze to the mirror leaning against the wall on her desk.

"It's a good look on you," the girl quipped, given that her hair looked a bit like a faux hawk she was inclined to disagree. This was not her look. A knock at the door and she swung around in her seat, fighting down a flush to her cheeks as she smoothed out her hair.

One look at her and the Doctor shot a knowing look to Kylee, who was doing her best to feign innocence while prying off one of the pads.  
  
"Looks like you two are getting along alright. How's my patient?" Fraiser opted to get right down to business, her bedside manner on point as always.

“Somehow managed to get classified as a lab rat, but otherwise hanging in there," Ky said, the last bit pointedly in the same manner that Sam had told her earlier. Sam pressed her lips together, choosing to play along with the girls’ glib remarks.

"More like a guinea pig,” Sam quipped and glanced to Ky. “But we haven't even gotten to the fun part yet. Speed, endurance, electrical outputs... We’ll be busy for a while."

"Protip, you’re gonna wanna build a treadmill that can handle my speed, because I don’t think a nordic track is going to cut it," Kylee pulled off another few of the sensors, casting her eyes briefly to the Doctor who was looking her over.

Sam tilted her head, somewhat conceding the point. She hadn’t considered it. "Maybe we'll just use a radar gun?" Her attention turning back to Janet.

"Anything I can do for you?"

"Just checking in, but I wanted to see how you were doing," Fraiser replied, looking more to Sam than to Kylee. She was all too aware of the condition of their new guest given that she'd been monitoring her health since her arrival. It was Sam who she had come to see primarily.

Sam could read Frasier fairly well, and knew her intent. Turning her head to Kylee, she nodded to her.  
  
“Why don’t you take a break?” She said, watching as Kylee’s eyes brightened up. Then her form blurred with a crackle of static, and the rest of the sensors fell to the bed  
  
“Wow. She really is fast," Janet said in amazement, looking between the door and her friend.  
  
“But how is she doing? Emotionally?” the doctor asked, curious to see exactly how she’d been holding up, and given the fact that there was nothing that the Doctor could determine to be wrong about the girl's physical condition the only remaining concern so far was her mental status.

“She’s not fully recovered yet. I think it’s pretty clear that she has some complicated emotions to work through, but she’s putting on a brave face. She needs time to heal," Sam said, sighing softly. Kylee wasn’t the first person she’d seen go through trauma and push through it like she’d been doing. She’d faced it herself a couple of times, and she had more than half a mind to breach the topic with her herself.

"All appearances aside, I think she's adapting pretty well given the circumstances," Sam replied, though she hesitated.

“There’s the possibility she’s got some post traumatic stress as well. I wouldn’t ask you to play psychologist but you are going to be working closely with her,” Janet remarked, given the nature of the tests and just their close proximity. It wasn’t as though Kylee would be leaving the base any time soon. Sam bit her lip as she thought about the fact that they were basically her support circle right now. She’d done it with Cassandra, but how was this any different?  
  
“I know. Dad and I shared the results of the DNA test with her the other day,” Sam said, looking notably more uncomfortable.

"Anything come out of it? Your father seemed open to the idea," Janet knew Jacob well enough now that she had gleaned some insight into the way he had changed his outlook thanks to Selmak. Family was more important to him ever.

"She overall accepts that we’re basically family due to our blood relationship, and that’s probably a good thing for her. I guess I’d rather have her have someone to look to for help than not at all," Sam replied, rubbing her knuckles a bit as she sorted her thoughts. “She said it was more like I was her mother’s cosmic twin sister, because we’re so different. And that makes sense."

"Sounds logical, if a bit reserved. Although that would make you an aunt and I know you’ve already had that experience. Either way, I suspect from her perspective, comparing you to her mother may be like comparing apples to oranges if the differences are that distinct," Fraiser remarked, trying to help Sam sort out her feelings on the matter.

There was an uneasy moment as Sam mulled over her thoughts, unsure as to whether she should be grateful or annoyed with Janet’s interference (although she was leaning towards the latter). Then she figured that she might as well be honest, if out of nothing else, than respect for her friend and doctor.

"You know, Janet… Don't you think it's a bit funny that the only person who seems to attract their doubles and family from alternate realities is me?" Actually, that thought had merit. Was there something about her family that attracted things like that? Or was it just her? The odds of it being coincidental were… astronomical, but also a possibility.

"It's a little unusual to have happened twice in a year," Janet remarked, as she surmised that if it had been her in Sam's place the previous year, or Cassandra, or even a child yet to be born, she'd likely be having conflicting feelings as well.

"But as I recall, the last time, you and Dr. Carter made a good team and it didn't turn out too badly."

Sam wanted to smile at that, she did.

"It's just... in some universe out there, I gave all of this up... for her." She looked at the door Kylee had just disappeared through moments before. "And...while I can't imagine doing that now, I... I wanted kids, you know. I just never had time. In that universe, I made the time," she sighed, folding her hands

"It's... going to take a while to get used to this, I guess."

"Give it time. You'll figure each other out. In the meantime, don't beat yourself up about it."

"Thanks Janet," Sam nodded. She’d needed to hear that. This particular topic, meeting someone, getting married, having kids... There was a part of her that regretted choosing her career over family. It was like a small wound in her heart that was hard to get her mind off sometimes. Maybe this was her chance to have the best of both worlds?

* * *

  
O’Neill was on his way to the Commissary for lunch after a boxing session with Teal’c when he felt a gush of wind pass him by. He let a breath of air pass his lips as he picked up his step and turned into the messhall, looking on as several surprises onlookers turned their heads to see the girl skid to a stop. He crossed his arms, watching the girl with a scrutinizing gaze as she went through the line like everyone else, and the airmen went back to their normal duties.  
  
He could have sworn that there had been a memo informing these people of what they were going to be dealing with for the foreseeable future. Though he suspected that that memo didn’t say anything about dealing with the coming and goings of a speedy superhuman.  
  
Of course the Colonel was willing to cut her some slack, her being new to the base. Heck, she’d probably  never stepped foot on an American military base in her life. He focused instead on reading her body language, trying to get a read on who the kid was and how similar was she to Carter.

  
He watched her move through the line, picking an extra portion - a side of veggies - for good measure, and a couple extra cookies before seeking out an empty table. Going through the line himself, he grabbed a soda and started to make his way over to the table, sitting down next to the girl, hoping to tease out some answers out of her through some idle conversation.

"Y'know, this whole superpower thing. I tried that once. Didn't take." The experts always said that finding common ground was the best way to break the ice.

She looked up at the Colonial, one brow raised unsurely, not at all sure whether to take him seriously or not.

"No, I'm serious. Faster than a speeding bullet, stronger than a locomotive. You get the idea. Happened about two months ago," O'Neill continued, hoping to pique her curiocity enough to engage with him.

"Really?" Ky turned her focus to him, slipping her chin into her hand as he gazed skeptically at him. "How’d you lose em?”

"Y’see, we got the powers by wearing these alien arm bands, but turns out it used a virus to give us the powers, and eventually it just burned out of our systems. Like a cold." As much as he would have prefered the advantage it gave them, he was equally as glad not to be one of Anise’s guinea pigs.  
  
“We?” The kid asked, withdrawing from her posture and taking a bite of the pasta sitting on her tray

“Daniel, myself, and Carter. Basically enhanced our natural abilities, or that was how it was explained to use when we tried them out. She didn’t tell you any of this?”  
  
“Not yet," Kylee said as she stirred one of the meat balls around the sauce before looking back up at him. “We were talking a little about that sort of thing but that didn’t come up."

“Ah. Well now you know. Seems like something you’d have been interested in. Any chance you’d be willing to tell me how you got yours?” O’Neill asked, with genuine curiosity though he was not exactly hiding his intentions. He wanted to know more about her, and hoped it held some insight into who she was as a person.

* * *

 

 

Kylee knit her brows in amusement at this guy. He was the guy from the infirmary, she remembered, and he’d seemed pretty close to Sam. Her eyes dipped down to the rank listed on his BDU and mulled over her answer. Was this some kind of test or was he just trying to get a feel for her?

"In my reality," she started, pausing to consider exactly how to explain this for a layperson.  
  
"There's a gene passed down from these advanced humans from another dimension. Basically they learned how to manipulate the gene to do what they wanted, and they were planning on activating a bunch of people at once but only after they had control of us. We stumbled on their operation and so we got activated,” Kylee said, turning her attention back to her food and stirred it around idly. Thinking about all of this just now, seeing the faces of her friends flash in her memory from that time, was starting to get her down.

"And by 'we' you mean?"

"My friends. My team." She thinned her lips, brow knitting, before saying lowly, "And people I'll never see again.”

"...Hey now, that's quitter talk," O'Neill said, smirking as he managed to draw a watterysmile out of the girl. He was right, she was just being mopey and hopeless. There had to be a way to get her home.

"Team?" That would be his follow up question. Kylee pressed her lips together and tipped her head down in order to hide the blush. The whole superhero thing was beginning to feel a bit silly when juxtaposed to these military folk.

"We call ourselves the Northern Lights. It's… Cheesy but we are running around like comic book superheroes," Kylee grinned sheepishly.

"Northern Lights…. What. Like Canada?" The Colonel with some incredulity.

"Minnesota," Ky replied, taking a bite of her meal.

"Huh. Me too."

"No kidding?" Ky was honestly surprised, then amused, before deliberately laying the stereotypical accent on a little thick. "So uh… Ya' goin' to the state fair this year?"

"Oh yah. Sure. You betcha," he said dryly, his eyes seeming to indicate that he suspected she was mocking him, though instead she smiled softly. It was true, she was giving him a little hell for his trouble, but it was nice to know that she had someone else to relate to around here. Mostly he reminded her of one of her uncles, but in that generic sort of way.

They both started at each other for several seconds before Kylee snorted and began to snicker. Jack just grinned.

 

* * *

 

Teal'c, who was standing within earshot, raised a brow as he walked past, overhearing the exchange. Mostly, it confused him, aside from recalling Minnesota being mentioned a great many times by the Colonel O’Neill as was the topic of fishing (which apparently meant something far different from the mere act of catching fish for sustenance). It was a topic of interest that he had noted neither Daniel Jackson or Major Carter had expressed enthusiasm for.  
  
Quietly, he observed the two for several moments discussing the incident concerning the Tok’ra experiment as well as the girl’s history getting her powers. He was intrigued that such a being could exist, and wondered exactly to whom she was going to pledge her allegiance.

O'Neill apparently caught a glimpse of him as he looked, over his shoulder, nodding towards his friend.. "Hey, Teal'c."

Teal'c felt his studying gaze soften and he bowed his head, approaching the table at the invitation. He stood with his arms behind his back.

"Greetings Kylee. How are you adapting to living on this base?" It was unlikely after the previous encounter with such abilities that she would be allowed leave before a probationary period had expired.

He watched her as her eyes trailed up to his face, taking in his rather imposing frame. She did not appear to be intimidated, yet her eyes darted away after a second, back down to her plate.

"Bout' as good as you'd expect," she said, looking at the remainder of her food, she picked up a cookie to snack on.  
  
“I guess if I had to complain, I don't think they put vanilla in these cookies ," Kylee said as she broke it in two. Teal’c interpreted that as her implying that it was as good as it could be given the circumstances.  
  
“Yes, but they are chocolate chip," O’Neill said with a sardonic tone.  
  
Kylee did raise a brow at O'Neill, but did not speak while she was eating. Her eyes instead turned back up to him as she drank her beverage.

"So, uh... What's with the forehead... thingy?" Kylee pursed her lips, dropping her eyes to O’Neill for a moment before focusing back on Teal’c.

There was a pause, as the Jaffa warrior did not quite know how to respond to it being referred to as a’ thingy’, however he had been asked many times in the past few years so that it was not a difficult question to answer. He did however raise a brow as he replied.

"It is a mark of allegiance to a Goa'uld. All Jaffa bare a mark which indicates which System Lord they serve," Teal'c explained, choosing to impart this important information to the girl. "However, it is the Tau'ri to which I have sworn my allegiance, as the Goa'uld are nothing more than false gods,"

"...They consider themselves 'gods'? Really?" Teal’c saw the incredulity in the young woman’s face, and it pleased him. She was no servant of a Goa’uld, that much he was certain of.

"Indeed," Teal'c replied. "Perhaps you will join us in the fight to defeat them."

“One step at a time, Teal’c. Around here you gotta earn your stripes. Course that all depends on if she wants to or not," O’Neill said, having already made it perfectly clear in further discussions that it had to be her choice. Teal’c agreed. He himself had been a weapon in service to another to whom he had lost faith in, and he betrayed his former master. There was no guilt in his actions, but placing himself in the shoes of this girl, he could understand how one might be reluctant to be such a weapon to someone she did not trust.

"It depends. I’ll consider it but…” Kylee paused as she peeled a napkin apart and started piling the cookies into it and wrapping them up, then looked up at them with an uncertain smile. “Right now I got a mad scientist to get back to. The sooner I get back and let her do her tests the sooner she’ll stop,"

"Major Carter's interest in such matters runs deep. It is doubtful she will ever cease acquiring knowledge," Teal'c explained, raising a brow at the question as if it were foolish to assume otherwise.

"What Teal'c is trying to say is, 'not likely'. Y'know you're supposed to have an escort. If you're gonna be zipping from room to room, at least give am a chance to do their job," O'Neill said. Ky rolled her eyes. O'Neill raised a finger to her. "Ah. None of that sass. It's better than being confined to quarters."  
  
“It would be wise to listen to the Colonel. Trust must be earned," Teal’c agreed, still maintaining the same tone as he had approached the girl with. She was young, so he was firm, yet pleasant, just as he was with R’yac and Cassandra.

"Yessir," The girl said after several moments of contemplation. In her tone, there was still an inflection of disrespect, but she did smile as she said it which indicated that she seemed to understand the message. And perhaps also, Teal’c supposed, that the Colonel had endeared himself to her. That was not at all surprising given the Colonel’s penchant for attracting children and protecting them.

“Well, later!” Kylee grinned as she stood up. Then in a moment, she’d disappeared in a flash of lightning and wind.

O’ Neill looked over at Teal’c. “I realize it’s not too bad this time, but how is this our life?”

Teal’c didn’t answer, but he’d often wondered the same thing.

Sam had asked to see General hammond in his office, she stood at his desk having just made a proposal for the next set of testing. The General looked up at her, clearly perplexed at the proposition.

"You say you want to take her to the Alpha Site?" Hammond asked.  
  
“Yes Sir," Sam replied with respect, giving Hammond a moment to process her reply.

"Why?"

"Sir, I think it's probably the most secure place we can use right now to test her speed safely. The more we know, the better off we'll be if anything were to happen," Sam explained, and the implication was clear. Of course it was more spoken as an incentive for Hammond to approve the mission rather than her believing Kylee could turn on them. Sam highly doubted she would, unless she was influenced by one of dozens of means of alien mind control or even being taken as host by a Goa’uld.

Note to self: Keep Kylee off of missions that have any possibility of capture… if that’s at all possible.

"That, and it wouldn’t hurt her morale," Sam continued, thinking that boosting her positive emotions couldn’t hurt either.

Hammond studied her for a moment, his eyes hard as he considered what she was asking.  
  
“What about her mental state?” Hammond asked, which was funny, considering Janet seemed to be concerned about the same thing.  
  
“Doctor Fraiser is recommending she be seen by Doctor Mackenzie. We just discussed it in my lab, and I’m sure you’ll read it in her report. But of course that’s based on her assessment and mine. That’s part of why I’m recommending it, sir," Sam replied. Fresh air and sunlight would a step in the right direction.

The General tightened his jaw, weighing the risks against the potential benefit. Sam knew that the the girl’s status was going to be constantly under scrutiny, and she wanted to give her the best chance possible.  
  
“I’ll allow it. The gate on Alpha site is to be guarded at all times while she’s offworld," Hammond said curtly. Clearly he wanted to ensure their security at all costs. Even while Sam didn’t suspect that Hammond thought she was some kind of agent sent by their enemies, he couldn’t take any chances.  
  
“I’ll schedule it at 0900 tomorrow morning,” he finally replied. “You’re dismissed.”

  
"Thank you, Sir," Sam said, shooting him a grateful smile and nodding her head in respect before turning to exit the office and head back down to get some lunch.

* * *

 

 

  
"Hey, Sam."  
  
Daniel Jackson knew he probably made a strange picture, walking through the military base in his civilian clothes and , carrying a crate of books from the library. He was certain he had maxed out his library card getting all of these but given the fact that there were slim pickings in the Commissary's bookshelf that served as a book swap for SGC personnel, he opted to take some time off and run some errands. He was also planning on writing off the snacks he bought off as a work expense.  
  
Sam turned to see him but kept walking as he caught up with her.  
  
“What’s all this?” She asked, seeing the plastic bag in hand as well as the crate filled with books.  
  
“Distractions," Daniel replied easily. The one thing he remembered most clearly about the experience of having super speed was the rate of which he could consume reading material. Most of his selections were  guesses, some Agatha Christie, a few graphic novels, Vonnegut, Hitchhikers, Jurassic park, really anything that would keep her busy for a day or two.  
  
“Good call," Sam said appreciatively. Daniel offered a brief smile in response as he walked in step with her.  
  
“Yeah I figured it might be helpful. What have you been up to?” the linguist asked, more in an effort to see if she needed any help or needed to talk about it or something. He’d been fairly scarce for the last day and a half going over their findings from their last few missions as well as some extra translation consultations he had on his work list.  
  
“Spent most of the morning doing some more physical tests for the medical team. I’ve realized that we’re not going to be able to accurately gauge her abilities in the confines of the lab so I requested use of Alpha site for a field test. We’re due to leave tomorrow morning,” Sam replied, turning to take the crate.  
  
Daniel wiggled his fingers carrying the bag, allowing her to take that off his hands but he was content with carrying the books himself, not that he didn’t think Sam could take it.  
  
“I’m sure she’ll be excited.” Daniel said, not exactly sure what his role will be other than observing. It wasn’t as though he wasn’t curious, though he did feel a certain distance from all of this. Mostly he would go to make sure that Sam knew her team backed her up. That and, more than likely that kid would be joining their ranks at some point. Maybe he should try to get to know her a little better.  
  
“Did you find anything out about her?” Daniel asked, passing his office and dropping off the goods briefly, Sam following him in.  
  
“I asked about her interests, she told me she was a superhero.” Sam said, pressing her lips together and looked through the bag of goodies.  Daniel would be surprised if she found anything terribly objectionable. He did note that she eyed the dried mango slices, obviously tempted on stealing a few pieces for herself. “I’m still trying to process that.”  
  
“It seems a little unreal, huh?” Daniel said. “Superheroes are America’s mythology. Most of them are just retooled Greek gods in various forms. Hermes, for instance, became the Flash. Superman is basically Hercules mixed with Moses. It’s hardly surprising that in a world where superpowers exist that they’d want to do something with their abilities.”  
  
Sam didn’t look terribly satisfied by that explanation, like she had something else on her mind that worried her, but she smiled nonetheless. “You wanna go to lunch?”  
  
Daniel nodded. “Yeah. Let’s go. I’ll help you out afterwards if you need it.”  
  
“Thanks, but I’m going to go with Ky to talk to MacKenzie this afternoon. Janet called him in.”

“Maybe we can meet for dinner or something.” Daniel suggested, and nodded to the door.

“Sounds good to me.”

 


	5. Test Run

Field testing on another planet. That was something Kylee never expected to hear, but then in all fairness she was pretty sure that notion was going around a lot this past week.  
  
It’s almost been a week. She breathed that in, and thought about the psyche evaluation she had gone through with Doctor Mackenzie the previous afternoon. Doctor Fraiser had explained  that they had reason to believe she was suffering from psychological effects due to her trauma and they wanted to make sure she was receiving the best possible care, both physically and psychologically. Kylee wasn’t sure that MacKenzie really understood the unique set of circumstances that led her to being here, but he did recommend regular sessions.  
  
Whether she took him up on it was a matter of her personal choice, and she was inclined to take them up on it. It was strange how much they seemed to care about her wellbeing. Heck, even in her normal life, health care like this was unheard of. She chuckled mirthlessly of all the implications of that and shook her head as she parted from her escort and walked into the lab.  
  
Ky ran her fingers through the middle of her hair to part it better. then glanced over to Daniel who was reading some book that seemed to be printed in a language she didn’t recognize as he sipped his coffee. Either he was busy or just giving her space, either way he seemed like he was in his own little world. He’d proved himself to be an incredibly thoughtful person, with the books and snacks that he had gotten her, and over dinner she’d grown a bit more comfortable around all four of them.  
  
Though she was now roped in to making them cookies at some point after she boasted about how good she was at baking. It was probably that remark she had unthinkingly dropped at lunch before that made O’Neill, or Jack, demand proof of her ability.  
  
She snorted softly at the thought, then fought back a yawn.  
  
Daniel looked up and caught her eye before gesturing to paper cup of coffee with a lid on it. There were three of them; one for him (which he had in his hand), one for her and one for Sam as well. She walked over and took the one he’d gestured to  
  
“Stay up late?” Daniel asked.  
  
“Later than I’d wanted to for a 6 am wake up call. I’ll be okay," And crash the minute they came back to the base she was sure. They were waiting on Sam before getting breakfast, but Sam had to go check out Kylee’s personal items from the storage locker before they could get going.  
   
Her eyes drifted to the computer in the corner which looked like a typical set up, unlike most of the other stuff which she simply refused to touch less she short circuit or press the wrong button. She wiggled the mouse and it was running windows, so she looked to Daniel and gestured to the computer.  
  
“Can I use this?” Kylee asked, clicking on the login button.  
  
“Um. Why?” Daniel asked cautiously.  
  
“Internet," Kylee said crisply.  
  
“Oh. Well,” Daniel hesitated for just a moment before walking over to look at the computer and logging her in under one of the secured accounts that would have every keystroke recorded. He moved aside and leaned against the workbench, intent on watching her for a while. Ky glanced at him a moment before sitting down and exploring the OS, visibly wincing at it.  
  
“This operating system is older than I am," she complained, biting her lip as she looked for the browser. No Firefox, no Chrome, almost nothing. Then again, what was she even expecting? Her stomach churned a little as she was forced to use explorer, and tried Google.com. It worked, but then she was at a loss of what to actually search for.  
  
It was basically a choice between news or checking out  the online shopping scene. Sam and Jack had mentioned, after all, that she could make requisitions if she needed anything, which was generous.  
  
After typing in her search parameters she ended up on Amazon, browsing the the sight in perplexed confusion. She slid her chin into her hand as she stared at a screen, waiting as the seconds ticked by as the link she clicked on loaded. She caught Daniel smirking out of the corner of her eye and shot him a look. She didn’t know what was so funny, because this was intensely frustrating to her. This should be frustrating to him if all internet was like this.  
  
"You guys live in the internet stone age," she muttered in defeat, tapping her finger as she watched the image load at, what was for her a snail’s pace.  
  
  
"Hm?" Daniel asked, turning his head over his shoulder as Major Carter walked in with a suitcase.  
  
  
"It’s slow,” she wrinkled  her nose as she clicked impatiently at a link, tapping her fingers against her cheek, “And there’s nothing here.”

 

  
  
"Really? It's pretty speedy compared to what I have at home," Carter said looking bright eyed and bushy tailed. Definitely a morning person. Ky shot her a look of exasperation but otherwise opted to take it in stride.  
  
"100 megabytes a second, this isn't," she said, rubbing a hand down her tired face and opted to drink the rest of her coffee. "No Youtube, no Netflix... how do you guys even live?"  
  
"Sounds rough," Daniel replied glibly, clearly not understanding the joys of high instant gratification. "What's netflix?"  
  
"Uh... the future of procrastination," Ky muttered as she pressed her lips together, trying to keep herself from grinning at the predicted response. Her eyes flicked to an advertisement for a dreamcast and she chuckled softly. “I guess I’ll just need to find some new hobbies.”  
  
Carter opened the suitcase and Ky abandoned her fruitless search at the computer to rejoin the scientist and linguist as they prepared for day ahead.

* * *

  
  
Daniel finished his coffee, setting the cup in the trash before joining the girls at the work table. Inside the case was a folded vest which looked as though it was made of some kind of leather or kevlar material. The crisp cyan lightning bolts against the blue certainly fit her powers. Kylee was in the process of pulling off her shoes that, after a short four days of use, were looking as if she had been wearing them for at least a year, and smelt of burnt rubber.  
  
  
“What made you want to be a superhero?” Daniel found himself asking, watching as Kylee slipped the blue boots (which seemed to be in far better condition than the cheap sneakers she’d been issued -- how did they hold up so much better against her abilities?) onto her feet.  
  
"Wouldn't you be, if you had powers? Seems like the thing to do, as opposed to going bad bad evil evil. I heard you guys got powers once." Daniel wondered who had told her that story. He smiled briefly, guessing that it had been Jack.  
  
  
"Ah, well be that as it may, I'm not entirely sure if I'd don a costume and use an alter ego." He couldn’t even imagine that, although in a way the things that they did every single day were almost similar to what the characters in the comics did. Only they did it with the full support of the US military.  
  
“What’s yours?” he asked, unable to reign in his natural curiosity.  
  
  
"It's Hightail. Y'know, like the idiom. 'Hightail it out of here.'” Kylee looked to Sam who cracked a smile at the girl’s call name.  
  
  
"You know, it's funny; people say that around here all the time," Sam remarked before her eyes caught something in the box. Daniel didn’t know what it was, but it had a cracked surface and the word ‘Samsung’ scrawled on it. Was it some kind of miniature television? Interesting.  
  
He figured she’d tell them about it when she wanted to and focused back on their previous topic. Hightail, huh? "It means 'to flee quickly', actually. But I guess it does technically have the implied meaning. Then let me ask you this. How long have 'superheroes' been around in your world? Is there a long legacy, or is it a more recent occurrence? Also, do they have comic books in the same way that we do? Like Batman, Superman...X-men?" Daniel asked, struggling to name any more of the popular franchises. He wasn't exactly the most well versed as far as superheroes go, as he was a bit more into pulp novels as a kid. That and reading everything he could find on Egypt and ancient cultures.  
  
  
"I chose the name for the emphasis on quick. And uuh, I've had my powers for almost a year now. We're pretty much the first thing that resembles something from like in comics and TV and I guess that answers both your questions," Kylee replied, reaching for her goggles and running a finger across the crack in them.  
  
“It does,” Daniel nodded. “I guess it’s just fascinating that it would work out that way.”  
  
“Fiction imitates life,” Kylee replied, mulling over her words before shrugging. “Or the reverse of that in this case. Either way.”

* * *

  
Sam kept looking at the rectangular device, popping open the back of it to see how it’s insides fit together. She could see Kylee watching her out of the corner of her eye. Obviously the device was important to her so Sam handled it delicately. What she found went beyond fascinating. The streamline and efficacy of the circuits… she could learn so much from this!  
  
She noted Kylee eyeing her warily and took a deep breath. “I can get this working again, if you like,” Sam offered Kylee, handing it to her. Kylee set it down and nodded.  
  
“I’m sure you can, but if the screen is broken it’ll be almost impossible to replace," Kylee reasoned, looking at the cracked screen. It had been a miracle that this thing had even made it there in one piece. She pressed a finger against the power source, and held the power button, showing Sam as it turned on. “Maybe it would be better to just get the data off of it..”  
  
“Or we could reverse engineer it and build a new one,” Sam responded with an excited smile. “After three years of reverse engineering alien technology, this should be a cinch.” Reverse engineering this alone would put them at least ten years ahead in digital technology, she estimated.  
  
“Point. The parts are all there if it works,” Kylee conceded, setting the technical marvel aside for later.

 

  
  
Sam gave the device one final, longing look before picking up the vest inside the suitcase and more closely examining the craftsmanship. It looked to be handmade, rather than manufactured. The non-uniform stitch gave it away although it was still very well crafted.  
  
  
"Did you make this?" Sam asked, turning to look to Kylee who nodded reaching in for a pair of fingerless gloves, both of them looked rather tattered which seemed to disappointed the girl.  
  
"Well, sort of. There’s a friction issue with conventional fabric so that problem had to be solved, and that was my part. Actually sewing the pieces together we got some outside help, Kylee said while tossing the gloves back into the case. “You would not believe how many pairs of shoes I burned through or shirts that caught on fire…”  
  
  
"Caught on... Oh boy," Sam said breathlessly.  
  
"Think I might need to make a new suit anyway," Ky said, giving Sam a look which she read as 'welcome to my life'. She reached through the leg of her pants, eyes searching for something and her face fell slightly when a finger poked through a inch wide hole in the thigh. It was in that moment that Sam was glad that they had gotten her in to see MacKenzie. That expression was a look disbelief and pain, likely from loss.  
  
After a moment's hesitation, Kylee spoke again.“I’m gonna need some goggles. But all of this should be fine.”  
  
"I'll get you a replacement pair before briefing. Go get read-" Sam said reaching for the girl’s shoulder, no longer afraid of the girl lashing out at her in fear, before being interrupted by Kylee disappearing and reappearing in the clothes from the case, sans the goggles. She withdrew her hand and glanced at Daniel who shrugged helplessly.  
  
“At least we don’t have to worry about her being late," Daniel said, Kylee glancing up at him coyly.  
  
Sam would issue her an extra BDU jacket, given that the entire ensemble didn’t seem graded for all weather, they might as well be prepared for it if it happened. Last thing Kylee needed was to catch pneumonia on an alien planet.  
  
“Speaking of late, we need to get going. Briefings in half an hour," Sam said, looking over the young speedster with a thoughtful gaze, thinking of something that her CO had suggested when they had gone on that mission to destroy the ship while wearing the arm bands.  
  
“Don’t forget to pack snacks.”  
  
  
George Hammond watched as Major Carter explained the basics of the stargate to the girl. She seemed bright enough and she was cooperative which worked in her favor. His superiors had expressed some concerns, given that she was being considered a foreign entity, and there had been talks about transferring her to another facility. The General had done all he could so far to ensure that she could remain under the jurisdiction of the SGC for her own safety (as well as based on maintaining overall containment without compromising her well being).  
  
It was a joint effort between himself and Doctor Fraiser that had kept pentagon personnel and the NID from approaching the situation tactlessly and without those considerations in mind. Honestly, it would be a minor miracle if the situation stayed as stable as it had been up until this point.  
  
He turned to the girl once Carter finished her explanation.  
  
“Now Miss,understand that you’ll be under the command of Colonel O’Neill and Major Carter. The planet you’ll be visiting is largely uninhabited and mostly unexplored. There are potential environmental hazards that we have yet to account for. Further, the only way back to the SGC is for you to come through the gate with an SG-member as the gate is protected by an iris which makes it impenetrable by any matter coming through an incoming wormhole. Further, you will not be given the gate address or instructions on how to use the stargate until we feel that you are ready to be trusted with that information. Do you understand?” Gen. Hammond explained, carefully watching the girl’s face for her reaction.  
  
“Um. Yes. I think I get the message.” She said, nodding but thinning her lips.  
  
A reaction like that signaled to Hammond that the girl had comprehension of the consequences, and she probably already understood the implications of taking her off world to do the tests rather than doing it right here on Earth. He was still glad to see that she was willing to work with them, however. Even he had to admit the resemblance to Carter was uncanny, perhaps a bit less refined in her mannerisms and certainly not as educated, but still similar.  
  
Besides, she was young. She’d learn.  
  
And she may yet become their greatest ally.  
  
“Then SG-1, you have a go. Dismissed," Hammond said as he stood up from the briefing table. The mission was simple enough. Once they embarked it was up to Carter and O’Neill to make their own evaluations as per their additional orders. He just hoped he wouldn’t regret this decision.

* * *

  
  
O’Neill watched the kid, who was already mostly dressed, slip into their typical BDU jacket. The whole neon thing the girl’s homemade outfit sported was going to have to be retired, he thought. That is if she was ever going to join the fight against the Goa’uld. Granted he had no idea how long she was going to stay, but he assumed, based on the fact that Carter had no idea how to get her back, it was going to be a while. Sooner or later they were going to have to quit the babysitting gig and resume their usual duties as well. Hopefully, if she had to stick around after that, she’d be able to make this place her home. She wasn’t the first refugee from another planet but she was, by far, the strangest and most worrying one. It was just too easy for something to go wrong for her, even with the best of intentions.  
  
“Y’know, I’m pretty sure I have a jacket just like this back home," Kylee said as she pulled the BDU over her shoulders, reaching to brush her fingers over the blank circle where a patch would be adhered to were she actually on a team.  
  
Sam handed her the goggles and a tactical vest, as well as the backpack full of gear that she was expected to carry. Just incase anything happened, they might need the supplies. Sam smirked at the girl’s exasperation at the extra equipment as she put her own on, but the girl compiled and pulled a pair of goggles on and pushing them up to her forehead. He’d excuse the lack of headgear, with hair like that they’d be lucky if it would even stay on.  
  
Once everyone was geared up, Jack led the way to the blast doors, allowing an Airman to open it for them. He could hear the chevrons locking while he waited. Once inside, they lined up to wait for the final chevron to lock into place.  
  
  
The kid stood between Carter and himself, adjusting her goggles a bit as she watched with curiosity and it occurred to the Colonel that this was her first time going through. At least while she was aware of it. He caught her eying his p90, then glancing down at his side arm, looking wary of the weapons, and that amused him because he was decently sure that she could dodge most of their conventional weapons easily. They met eyes for a moment and Ky averted her gaze back to the gate, stepping forward to get a better view as the seventh chevron was put into place.  
  
The Colonel grabbed the strap on her backpack before she got too close, just as the plasma blast shot out of the gate.  
  
“Don’t wanna get too close to the gate when it’s about to connect. That stuff’ll vaporize you," Jack told her, then nodded to Daniel and Teal’c who started walking up the ramp as a pair.

  
"Whoa."  
  
The girl hung back with them and watched the two go through, staring at the shimmering surface of the event horizon. He knew he probably shouldn’t compare Carter to her alternate’s kid but heck, with the way the girl looked so mesmerized by the gate, he wasn’t at all surprised they were related. At least she wasn’t spouting science at him.  
  
O'Neill turned his gaze to Carter and smirked at her. She shot him a look in turn and shook her head, moving forward and putting a hand on Ky’s opposite shoulder. With that, the three of them walked onward, pulling Kylee along for the ride.

* * *

  
  
  
Once they exited through to the other side, the fresh crisp autumn air hit Ky’s senses and she took in a breath. She was at a loss for words and the only thing she could do was take it all in. A pat on the shoulder from Sam snapped her out of the stupor of amazement and she moved to follow along with her group, passing several airmen who were now guarding the gate.  
  
From her.  
  
She supposed it didn’t bother her that much since they were just taking precautions but it did serve to yank her back down into reality.  
  
“Welcome to Alphasite. We’re about 40,000 light years from earth," the Major said as she stepped down from the gate’s platform.  
  
“That’s so cool!" Also surreal, and the fact that she was outside made it even better. Still, after traveling between realities, and to another realm on her own world with alien environments, she had expected something a bit different than this. It reminded her a bit of some state parks she’s been to. "Why does it look so much like Earth?"  
  
"Most of the planets the stargates connect to were terraformed for human life, when the Goa'uld took them from Earth thousands of years ago," Daniel explained.  
  
"So everything that's here are basically just evolved versions of Earth plants and animals?"  
  
"For the most part," Sam replied as they began walking towards the base camp. “There have been other animals which don’t exactly fit in with the Earth tree of life. At least no direct links have been found with some of the ones we’ve discovered, but it’s often rare to find animals or plants that don’t have some kind of Earth counterpart.”  
  
"Soooo... Alien maple syrup is a possibility?" Kylee asked, half seriously. She would not say no to trying that.  
  
O'Neill seemed to consider this when he looked back at Ky for that inquery. "That's not out of the question."  
  
Kylee turned her gaze to Teal’c then, that typical analytical gaze falling on her face. “What about Star Trek rubber forehead aliens?”  
  
“So far, nothing like that, no," Daniel said. O’Neill shook his head, eyebrows raising briefly.  No such luck on klingons?  Probably a good thing.  It was about as silly as every alien speaking english, though.  
  
“I always found it was odd that all the aliens in those shows looked mostly human anyway," Sam replied. “How did they explain that?”  
  
“Some old humanoid aliens seeded the universe with--” Ky began, only to be interrupted by the  Colonel.  
  
“Enough geeking out, now we got work to do. Carter, Daniel, you head off to the air strip and get your testing done," O’Neill said, then looking to Teal’c. “Teal’c and I’ll go check in with the base commander.”  
  
“Yes sir,” the Major said dutifully, nodding off in the opposite direction to head towards their destination.  
  
The path was rugged(although, probably about as easy to walk on as anywhere else judging from what she could see), but it was clear of long grass and packed with dense sand to make it easier to walk on. Kylee found herself sandwiched between the two, Sam taking point with Daniel bringing up the rear. A thick forest lined the camp and it took them about five minutes to hike through it to their destination. The air strip was merely a constructed clearing with a pyramid of stripped trees on the edge. it was a long way to being a paved runway but who the hell knew what kind of aircraft they were planning to fly here? Or perhaps a spaceship?  
  
"So, uh… Kylee," Daniel began, causing Kylee to glance back at him before moving to walk in step with him. “How fast are you, anyway?”  
  
Kylee paused, trying to do the math in her head. “Pretty close to Mach five these days."  
It wasn’t exactly light speed like in the comic books and movies, but it was fast enough to be pretty much a blur on most cameras, even high speed cameras.  
  
“Might take a while to get up to that speed, though.”  
  
  
"Why?" Major Carter asked as she selected a spot to set up the equipment, then turned to look at the girl.

 

  
  
  
"I haven’t been eating my wheaties,” Kylee joked, glancing to the Major. They both smiled but still looked at her for the actual answer, so she decided to humor them. “I haven’t been running for a couple days so my reserves are gonna be pretty low.”  
  
  
"What about all the times you’ve used your speed on the base?” Carter asked, raising her brows with interest.  
  
“Not really enough to build up the energy required to go almost five times the speed of sound," she said, pulling off the heavy pack and and unzipping it to grab one of the candy bars to munch on before taking off the tactical vest and jacket. When were they going to get this show on the road?

* * *

  
  
With the tripod set up, there was a matter of charting out the best path to go to. Kylee may have to go some distance to get to her top speed so they would need to give her a tracer transmitter to be able to keep track of her.  
  
“So, kinetic energy needs to build up. The more you absorb, the faster you go?” Sam asked, walking over and handing Kylee a ear piece for her radio and as well as pinning a tracker on the inside of her vest collar to protect it from the high frictions that she would undoubtedly face. Did that mean she was immune to injury by heavy impact?  
  
“HmmMM," Kylee said while she attached the earpiece. Sam hoped that it would withstand the high velocity and friction as well. If not she’d just have to work on a new one for round two. Part of her couldn’t help but be excited now that they had access to Kylee’s abilities. Thinking about the things they could learn about the effects of high speed travel, about training their pilots to withstand the G-forces more efficiently, and even replicating Kylee’s suit material would all be a great step forward developing new equipment. In fact, the modified sensors she gave to Kylee to apply to her chest over her heart will hopefully withstand her speed with the new plastic coating she used. Hopefully they will give them some insight to her unique endurance abilities.  
  
“What about energy you don’t use?” Sam asked, stepping away from the girl and pulling out the radar gun to set that up and plug in to her computer.  
  
“Well, uh… I might have had some insomnia now and again. All I know is that it’s better to expel it than keep it in. Maybe a light show later?” Kylee said, letting her fingers crackle a bit as a visual.  
  
  
“I brought the ammeter so you’ll have plenty of opportunity to show us that later," Sam said, screwing the device in and standing to face the girl again.  
  
“What happens if you expel everything?” Daniel piped in.  
  
Ky hesitated, looking between the two of them, as though she wasn’t sure if she trusted them with the answer.  
  
“I don’t really know. Maybe I’d get knocked out, maybe kick the bucket. It’s not something I really like to think about, but then it’s really a worst case scenario," Kylee said, nervousness lacing her voice. “I guess if somehow someone where to suck it all out somehow, it could kill me.”  
  
  
"Basically you’re saying you’ve never been able to expel everything before?” Carter asked, wondering if that meant that there was a consistent charge, or if it didn’t affect or base life force. What would happen if they just turned her powers off? Should she be searching for a cure instead of encouraging this? A pit grew in her stomach the more she thought about it, but this wasn’t just a pet project. They, her commanding officers and their superiors, wanted to know as much as they could about Kylee. And honestly, Sam did too. If she came to the conclusion that this was harmful to the girl, she’d bring it up with everyone else later. After she had solid proof.  
  
Kylee looked back towards the two, crossing her arms, clearly growing uncomfortable with the line of questioning. “Can we get on with it? I’m ready.”  
  
“Good," Sam said as she pressed on the radar gun. “Get into position.”  
  
Kylee did so, moving between her feet to get warmed up before she pulled her goggles over her eyes and crouched in a loose ready position.  
  
“On your mark!” Really, Sam couldn’t help herself but get into the racing spirit. Too bad she opted not to use her gun to signal her to go, but that didn’t seem appropriate.  
  
“Get set," called out Daniel, happy to join in.  
  
Ky shot him a brief look, though she was grinning widely, blue static beginning to bounce off he back and shoulders as she prepared herself to run.  
  
“Go!” And she was off.

* * *

  
  
Kylee didn’t know what the numbers were and frankly, she didn’t care. The wind in her hair, the ground beneath her feet, the crisp, coolness of the world around her, it was almost as though she could fly. The sense of freedom that gave her swelled in her, sending her up into the air as she leapt as high as she could and cheered with unbridled glee. She would have laughed if Sam heard it, uncaring about saving face at the moment, it just felt so good to run!  
  
By the time she had been running for only two minutes, she heard a staticy crackle in her ear piece.  
  
“Kylee. Swing back around. You’re about ten miles out now," Sam told her. So they wanted to see something fast, huh? She had turned tail and ran, continuing to build up speed and adjusting as she gained more momentum. She saw Sam and Daniel pass by, and kept going. She hoped they needed more data than that because after the last couple weeks she could do this all day!

* * *

  
  
It wasn’t long before O’Neill and Teal’c finished their security checks and explained the situation to the Alpha Site staff. They’d already been briefed, but Jack had been ordered to give them a more thorough run down of who they were testing, what she was capable of and if they see a blue blur, they shouldn’t shoot. It was Teal’c who voiced a desire to see the girl in action, and O’Neill decided they may as well rejoin the rest of the team. They were planning on staying for at least a few hours so why not let the kid burn off some of that excess energy? At least that was the idea.  
  
They walked the perimeter of the base, O’Neill wearing his sunglasses in the bright evening sun, his cap doing more work than his shades to shield his eyes. He figured they had at least a couple hours of light left with the sun dipping that low. Guess they didn’t time it that well. They probably didn’t need a full day’s worth of time here anyway, not with how fast she moved. He had no doubt that the tests would be done in no time.  
  
In a way, this was more than just a medical or scientific experiment. This was a test of trust. She had freedom here, to a degree. There was nothing stopping her from taking out the five guys guarding the gate, and if she wasn’t exactly what she said she was, or what the data implied, they’d probably find out by giving he a clear shot at nigh-unlimited access to the galaxy. Honestly, they were banking on the fact that, no matter the speed, people  needed time to dial out. They’d tried ‘speeddialing’ when they’d gotten powers before, but nothing had worked. They had a sniper with tranqs on the ready should she even come near the gate, and two hidden airmen armed with zats.  
  
It wasn’t that he couldn’t trust Kylee, it was just that she needed to prove herself and earn that trust before they could ease up even the slightest on security protocol. So far he hadn’t heard any chatter on the radio indicating any concerns from Daniel or Carter, so onward he went. It would be a darn shame to have to drag her back to the SGC just to throw her in a cell, but he doubted it would happen. Jack had a gut feeling about this one (although even he could admit that he could easily be biased, though not nearly as biased as Jacob had seemed when they’d spoken earlier).  
  
The superhero thing, that never could not be cool, but it was the fact that they shared a state of origin helped endear her to him a bit. That didn’t mean he wasn’t going to follow his orders.  
  
A bright flash above the treeline drew his attention, and he turned his eyes up as a streak of white light darted through the sky like a meteorite, a shooting star as it were. Maybe it was a bit paranoid to assume that it wasn’t something like that, just some debris burning up in the atmosphere, but big enough to see even in the late afternoon?  
  
“Hey T," He said to his Jaffa compatriot. “Did you see that?”  
  
“Indeed I did, Colonel O’Neill," Teal’c said, turning his gaze to survey the treeline where it had seemingly disappeared to.  
  
“Meteorite? Spaceship? What do you think?”  
  
“I believe if it were a vessel it would not have given way it’s location in such a manner unless it were crashing, and if it had, there would have been sufficient noise to indicate where it had landed," Teal’c replied, certain of his answer. “I am not familiar with such a phenomenon.”  
  
  
“Right. We’ll keep an eye on that," Jack said as he resumed the trek back to reunite with his team. It wasn’t too long before he could see the airfield, Kylee nowhere in sight. Sam was crouching, typing her computer. Daniel stood nearby  with a pair of binoculars directed towards the south. The two of them were about to start down the hill before Teal’c heldan arm to Jack’s shoulder to stop him before gesturing towards the opposite direction of where the pair was looking. There was some kind of massive white animal running towards them.  
  
“Fire a warning shot," O’Neil said, raising a hand to indicate that Jack resume his position as he started running to intercept his team. “Look alive people! We’ve got a bogey at six o’clock!”  
  
Carter whipped her attention away from her computer at Jack’s voice, then turned towards the incoming creature headed straight for them. She was on her feet in an instant, and Daniel peered at it with the binoculars. A staff blast hit the ground halfway between them, which was now only about thirty feet, but with the massive animal’s size it seemed much closer. By all accounts it looked like a lion, its fur bleached white with no visible pupils. It was about a foot taller than Jack was, and given that it was proportionately a regular lion but scaled up a few sizes, it was pretty damn freaky looking. Almost like a giant lion ghost.  
  
It moved around the area where the staff weapon had been shot looking as confused as a lion could, his eyes turned up to Teal’c who remained on the hill. This was not in the Alphasite biological survey. Not even close.  
  
“Easy, big guy," Jack said to the beast as if it could understand English. Both he and Carter had their weapons trained on the beast, but he wasn’t sure if it would do any damage or deter it even at this range. He was hoping if thing attacked them Kylee’d swoop back in for the save.  
  
The Lion turned its massive head back down, peering at Jack, then staring at Carter pointedly. After a moment holding his gaze on the Major, he spoke.  
  
Yes, spoke.  
  
“I have come to see the girl. Where is she?”  
  
  
  



	6. The Messenger

Kylee hadn’t heard from Major Carter in a while, or the Colonel. She had assumed at least one of them would be ordering her back by now as she’d run farther than directed to. It was probably best that she make her way back to the base while it was still light out, ordered to or not. She didn’t want to press her luck with these guys right now. She’d stopped at the crest of a hill to take in the scenery overlooking a lake where she could see some flying fish flitting over the water, catching insects. Something that looked like a dragonfly (she thought) zipped past her, only to be swallowed by what looked to be a frog with a tail. Maybe evolved from a salamander, or just locally evolved fauna? It was amazing how similar to Earth this was.  
  
She turned to look towards where she’d come from, sure she could navigate her way back.She’d started the run orientating herself with this planet’s sun to her right so she could avoid having a search and rescue party coming after her on her first day out. Besides, a night out here without food was not something she really had any intention of enduring. She had plenty of faith in her own survival skills, but alien food stuffs... she wasn’t going to take chance on berries filled with arsenic.

 

She started back the way she came, hoping that maybe the ear piece might spring back to life, but also wanting to enjoy the scenery a bit more before facing whatever further tests they had in mind. After a couple of seconds, she heard something that sounded like chatting, vague noises that indicated she was merely out of range. To that, she had to give Sam some credit in the insulation putty she used to prevent Kylee from just destroying the earpiece in seconds. _Return trip is go,_ she thought to herself with a smile.  
  
That’s when she heard it. A bellowing noise riding on the air and causing her to jump. She blinked.  Had that been a sonic boom finally catching up with her? No, she would have already heard it if that were the case. Besides it sounded… like an animal? Yes. She was sure of it.  She looked around, trying to find what creature would make that kind of a noise and if it was close enough for her to see before she heard it again, the unmistakable sound of an animal’s roar.

 

A familiar roar. Wait… It couldn’t be… could it?  
  
Taking off in the direction of the roar it was seconds before she heard a chatter return on the radio, Jack’s voice, telling her to get back to the base ‘pronto’. Pronto? She could do pronto. Responding to the radio wouldn’t work given that her voice would be lost to the wind with how fast she was moving. She would  need to come up with a better radio design that worked at her speeds some day.  
  
Breaking through the forest brush, she ran into a familiar clearing and came to a stop to survey the area. At the edge of the clearing stood a large, glowing cat, one she had known for almost as long as she’d had her powers.  
  
“Orion!” she shouted excitedly, before closing the distance and skidding to a stop between the two parties raising her arms in a placating gesture, not sure exactly how O’Neill was taking the inexplicable creature before him, although given how he and Major Carter had their weapons lowered but ready in hand, she could tell that they were uneasy. She could disarm them all in a heartbeat, if she actually thought she had to. And she would do it in a heartbeat if she thought they were going to try and hurt her friend… even if it probably wouldn’t do any damage.  
  
She helped up her hands to SG-1 and gave an uneasy smile. “Guys, it’s cool. I know this guy.”  
  
“How?” Sam asked, her eyes focused and tense. Kylee couldn’t understand how she managed to accept that a girl could have super speed but, somehow, an oversized, glowing feline couldn’t exist. The speedster suppressed an eyeroll. That woman needed to use her imagination if she was gonna wax theoretical about alternate realities.

“He’s from my world. He’s basically our Obi-wan,” Kylee explained, falling back to the old joke because she really couldn’t  hide her astonishment at her friend’s sudden arrival. She smirked when Orion huffed gruffly from behind her, the puff of air blowing at her hair as he protested the comparison.  
  
“Now hang on a second. Did you know he was going to show up here?” the Colonel’s jaw was hard and his brows knit as he watched the lion carefully. The tone left no room for interpretation, he was questioning her motives.  
  
“Uh… No. He’s… I had no idea,” she said tumbling over her words. So sue her, she was excited. Never in her wildest dreams did she think Orion would show up within days of getting here. “What was I supposed to tell you guys? ‘By the way General, I have a friend who is basically Space Aslan’, you'd have thought I was nuts!”  
  
“Oh, no, we still think that,” O’Neill said, his tone as dry as sandpaper. Kylee huffed softly, her brows drawing together as she exasperatedly looked to Sam and met her eyes uncertainty.  
  
“Hmf. I agree. She is quite the handful,” Orion said in a rumbling voice as he nudged her in the back with his nose, then rose his head to nuzzle her just like a regular cat might. Orion had always been like a cosmic grandfather they’d never had, and that kind of a relationship occasionally came with the tendency to faceplant into fluff. And for a creature who was made of hard light, he was exceptionally fluffy. Kylee returned the gesture with a hug, unable to stop herself from smiling as he rubbed him under his chin affectionately. “It is good to see you, young one.

 

“She could not have known I would find her. This power to travel between realities is not something I share freely. Nor is it easy, or wise to use it regularly. There are many potential consequences for crossing borders which are not meant to be crossed.” Oddly, Kylee wasn’t surprised that the lion kept things like that close to the vest considering the company he kept, and his protege being only fifteen. Great power; great responsibility, and all that.  
  
“If...if I knew he’d come get me I wouldn’t have been quite as worried as I was before about getting home,” she agreed as a feeling of relief swept over her. She could go home now.

 

Orion glanced down at her with a peculiar, unfamiliar expression. Given the lion’s looks and his glowing white eyes, it wasn’t always easy to discern emotion on his face. Normally he seemed to either have what she assumed was the neutral lion expression, sternness, or a proud smile on his muzzle. This seemed more like  a worried frown, maybe regret?

 

“No doubt she has told you about the recent events which have transpired in the Infinity Cascade? The ordeal with the Host? The arena? Yes?” Orion asked, choosing to focus his attention to the four soldiers ahead of him. Kylee frowned and followed his gaze, meeting eyes with Sam again, and her brow was creased with a focused frown tugging at her lips.  
  
“What’s the Infinity Cascade?” Jack asked, switching his focus to Kylee for the answer. She snapped her attention up, her own thoughts beginning to tug her focus away as she considered all the possibilities of Orion’s grim demeanour.

 

  
  
  
  
“It’s the place she was brought to before she arrived in our reality,”  Sam said. “And she has told us a little. Either way we’re aware of what happened.”  
  
“They got the cliff notes," Kylee said evasively. It  was an understatement as she had only told them what had happened immediately before she had arrived here.  Describing the Infinity cascade was difficult enough. She knew what it looked like -- like being suspended over an ever spinning cyclone of energy  and the technicolor... Whatever it was, perhaps a visual representation of all space and time, spilled into the center as if it had been drawn in. “It was sort of like a space station, I guess, except for realities.”  
  
Sam frowned at the admission that she was withholding information, but Kylee couldn’t tell if it was out of concern or merely scientific interest. Then she looked over at Orion. ”If you’re here looking for her, has the situation been resolved?”  
  
“It is a complicated matter, but yes it has, as far as it pertains to the Infinity Cascade. But there are now other issues that must be addressed.,” Orion replied, gazing at Carter curiously, and for perhaps too long. Ky noticed Sam growing uneasy as the lion took her features in. He must have recognized her, the younger blond thought. Orion then turned his head to O’Neill, addressing the rest of the group. “I must speak to whomever is responsible for making decisions regarding her.”  
  
“That depends on what kind of decisions we’re talking about,” said the Colonel, his brows knit and tapping his fingers against the gun he held loosely over his stomach while he thought it over. “Are you implying that you’re not taking her back?”  
  
“As I said, it is a complicated matter. Which is why I seek an audience with you and whoever else is involved. I must know to whom I am entrusting her,” Orion said finally, then turned his eyes to the girl in question. “I am deeply sorry Kylee, but you cannot go home.”

  
  
Kylee had never really known what it was like to feel that someone’s words had socked her in the gut… until now. She very nearly staggered back as those words struck her to her very core. Distantly, she felt her brows knit as she looked to Orion in shock, as if expecting him to suddenly turn to her and say ‘just kidding’. He wouldn't though. He didn’t joke like that. Part of her still wished he did because… _no_ … this _couldn’t_ be happening...  She found her gaze drifting to any of the others for a better answer.  
  
She was about to speak (although she had no idea what she would say), before O’Neill spoke up instead.  
  
“Well why the hell not?”

* * *

 

  
When only Major Carter came through the Stargate, General Hammond felt worry stir within him. At some level he knew there was trouble after she handed off her P90, a muted expression on her face. Something had happened, he surmised, otherwise there would have been a radio correspondence. She handed off her weapon to an SF before heading up to the control room to meet him.  
  
“Sir,” she said.  
  
“Major. I expect this is more than just a social call. What’s going on?” He asked, briefly looking her up and down for any sign that something might be wrong.  
  
“A entity from Kylee’s world appeared on Alpha site. He wants to speak with you and anyone else involved in decisions that effect her wellbeing,” Sam replied. Hammond rarely saw her eyes grow that hard and knew she was pushing down her emotions though she kept her voice firm and measured.  
  
“Is that so? Well how did he get to this universe? And for that matter, how did he manage to find his way all the way to Alpha Site?” Hammond asked, finding the whole scenario hard to believe. In fact, it seemed almost too good to be true.  
  
“Well, Sir, he has the ability to travel between realities,” Carter explained promptly. “He must have tracked her somehow. He seems to be similar to the ascended being from Kheb, but he takes the form of a white lion.”  
  
“What do we know about his intentions?” As incredulous as it was to hear the nature of this creature, it’s relative strangeness was nothing compared to something like a Retu, though that probably said more about SGC’s day-to-day encounters than anything else. .  
  
“So far he’s shown no hostility, but he’s stated outright he has no intention of taking Kylee home. In fact, he said she can’t go back, but he hasn’t elaborated on why because he wants to speak with whoever is in charge of what happens to Kylee. He said he’d answer any questions then.” Right. Too good to be true as he’d assumed. Sam looked just as anxious now as she had the moment she’d laid eyes on those test results, and Hammond didn’t need to guess why. The implications of this development were not lost on him, the Major’s life had just radically changed. Again.

“Does he intend to come to the base?” Hammond asked, split on the decision of allowing such a bizarre creature in Chyanne Mountain, but considering how he qualified as a foreign dignitary Hammond knew he may have to allow it.  
  
“Actually, Sir, it may be more efficient to go off world to meet with him. Size may be an issue," Hammond paused, mulling over his options before nodding firmly to the major..  
  
“Right. I’ll be ready to gate out in thirty minutes,” Hammond replied. “Best not to keep our guests waiting.”  
  
“Yes sir,” she said, her eyes turning away from the General towards the gate while he went to get into his BDUs. It was going to be a long evening.

* * *

 

 

With Jack out at the camp informing everyone there about their current plans and the situation, and Sam back at the SGC briefing Hammond on what had been requested, Daniel and Teal’c had been left to watch over things back at the air strip. Dr. Daniel Jackson wasn’t exactly one hundred percent sure he understood the full scope of what was going on, but it wasn’t hard to understand the implications of what Orion had said. Kylee wasn’t going home, and Orion was planning on gauging whether or not they were suitable caretakers for her.

 

He could only guess what was going through her head. Abandonment probably, anger likely, given the way she was whittling at a stick and using her powers to ignite the spiraled ribbons of wood fiber.  
  
“That seems… Cathartic,” Daniel said as he observed the action again and watching the wood crackle as it floated up into the air. Her expression said it all to him. She hurt, but was using anger to push back her other emotions lest she despair. He had assumed that this was yet another in a long list of emotional blows she had to endure, and he wouldn’t be surprised if she felt like she’d failed somehow. He could relate to that in so many ways.

 

 

“It’s okay,” Kylee replied with a hollow voice, obviously trying to convince herself more than anyone else. After taking a glance at glowing shape of Orion settled near the stargate, Daniel walked up and took a seat next to her, folding his hands and resting his arms against his bent knees.  
  
“You know, you could talk about it. If not with me you could with Teal’c. He’s a good listener,” Daniel said, trying to project a light-hearted tone but when Kylee shot him a look he felt perhaps he’d come across as a touch patronizing. He wasn’t always sure how to talk to younger people, but he thought he’d gotten better at it since Cassandra had come along. He decided to try again, taking the time to choose his words carefully.  
  
“I know you must think I can’t understand what you’re going through.--”  
  
“Well, can you? Specifically? It’s kind of a niche situation for empathy…” Kylee cut in, with hardness in her words that Daniel hadn’t heard before. At the end, there, her fear made her voice crack with the welling emotions she was forcing down.  
  
“Have I gone through something horrible? Of course. It’s actually a pretty long list and I’m sure there’s a few things I’ve gone through that you had the luxury of avoiding,” Daniel said firmly, making a point to maintain a calm, steady voice. “Every one of us have had some personal tragedy. Jack, Sam, Teal’c… I lost my wife to the Goa’uld, and she was killed last year because the Goa’uld inside of her was trying to kill me. Trust me, this isn’t a contest.”  
  
Kylee stared at him, eyes wide with wet eyes, then turning her head down and tossing the piece of wood away.  
  
“I’m… I’m sorry,” She stammered, a guilty look forming on her face. “And… talking… oh, boy. I’m not really sure where -- or how -- to start.”  
  
“Could start with how you’re feeling right now…” Daniel suggested, thinking maybe her feelings about the moment were worth addressing.  
  
“Okay, Dr Phil…” Kylee grumbled and sighed, folding her little multi tool and slipping it into a slit inside of her boot.  
  
“Is that another future cultural reference?”  
  
“I coulda sworn you would have gotten that one.” The girl shrugged, and then let her arms hang loosely against the knees, crossed at the wrists.  
  
“This wasn’t what I envisioned my life was gonna be at twenty. I mean, I guess I didn’t have a plan for twenty, but being stranded in another reality wasn’t even in the running,” Kylee muttered mirthlessly.  
  
“Well, see, that’s actually happened to me once,” Daniel replied, still trying to lighten the mood. Besides, it was a point worth making.  
  
“But you didn’t get stranded. For life. Away from your friends and family,” Kylee returned, frowning as she stared at the ground.  
  
“Um, no, but I was afraid I might die there. The Goa’uld had attacked that version of Earth and the information I brought back from that universe saved ours from being completely taken over,” Daniel explained, as he heard some chatter on the radio, he hesitated in turning up the volume but he was waiting on an update. He held up a finger to forestall her from speaking more and turned his attention to the radio.

 

“Daniel. Teal’c. The General’s on his way to the camp. Time to head over,” Jack’s voice crackled over the static. Oh, good. They’d get the whole story now.

 

“That’s our que,” Daniel said, watching as the girl closed her eyes and rose to her feet. Then she brushed herself off and turned her gaze to the camp illuminated by utility lights. He could see in the distance the lion walking towards the area as well with the silhouette of Sam and Hammond as well as a handful of SFs following them.  
  
Ky saw them too. Then she sighed and ran a hand through her hair. “I’m not sure I’m ready for this…”  
  
“Nobody ever is,” Daniel said sympathetically, speaking from years of experience. You don’t just walk into a new life ready for every challenge it throws at you. To go from a life lived at break-neck speeds, then change gears to something like this where restraint was an absolute necessity, he could understand her reluctance.  
  
“You know,” Daniel said as he fell into step beside her, “when I met my wife, we helped her people free themselves from Gou'auld rule. One thing that drew me to her was how in a society that had been beaten down into subservience, she still had the courage to stand up. I left my life here for her. Gave up everything I knew to live with her and her family. Then she was taken from me and my life changed again. I’m not going to lie and say everything will just fall into place, but I am saying you have support here. Teal’c, Jack, General Hammond, Doctor Fraiser,  me… but especially Sam, we’ll do everything we can to help you out.”  He shot her a smile, hoping his words might bolster her spirits before they heard the rest of the bad news.  
  
She didn’t look at him, but the corners of her lips tightened and she nodded. He didn’t know if he’d helped her or not, but he’d given it his best shot. They walked the rest of the way to camp in silence.

* * *

 

 

  
Sam stepped through the event horizon and out onto the platform, flashlight in hand given the dark weather. They really didn’t have that much daylight left. She was going to have to calculate better planetary time differential algorithms for all of their off world holdings going forward. Behind her stepped General Hammond who took in a deep breath of the fresh air, and his eyes were drawn upwards to the twin moons in the sky. Her eyes were drawn to the Lion who sat awaiting their arrival nearby, and the SFs who stood guard over the gate.  
  
It was surreal, this creature of the savannah, glowing almost translucently like a specter, waiting patiently for their arrival. It was sort of like interacting with the Nox, in her estimation; an old soul willing to give them the time they needed to get on their way. But, also like the Nox, he did not seem willing to give them what they believed they needed; a way home for Kylee. She just hoped he had a good reason for coming all this way to tell them that.  
  
The General approached the lion, who rose to all fours, towering over the general by about a foot and a half. Orion bowed his head, seemingly out of a show of respect.  
  
“My name is General Hammond. I’m the commanding officer of everyone at this camp as well as Stargate Command back on Earth,” Hammond explained.

 

The lion nodded. “Well met, General. Come, let us speak with the others, hm?” Orion said as he turned towards the base where the lighting was better.  
  
“Right. You understand we’re a little apprehensive about your appearing out of nowhere at our doorstep,” General Hammond asked.  
  
“I understand your military’s apprehension about many things, especially regarding things they do not understand. You are wise to be cautious,” the lion said in his deep, rumbling voice, the way he spoke suddenly reminding her of Bra’tac. He had the same presence, the same air of authority and conviction that only came from years on the battlefield. There was also a similar elegance and confidence, but perhaps that was just because of the fact that he appeared as a lion.

 

“As I've been told,” General Hammond said, not missing a beat. “Can we expect unannounced visits from you in the future?”  
  
“If possible, I would be willing to visit, however there are many responsibilities I have in my reality on Earth as well as the other realms which I oversee and protect,” Orion replied. “It won’t be often, but If it can be arranged...”  
  
“We’ll see. For now, all we want is answers and to know what you expect out of this arrangement,," Hammond said. Orion’s turned his head back just sightly to look at Sam as the General spoke. She could feel the hairs pricking up on the back of her neck, it was a little eerie, but then again it was all too much like the way Ky had watched her or held a look for too long. They were trying to see the person they ,knew in her.  
  
The lion rumbled softly before bowing his head under the string of utility lights. Daniel and Kylee walking in from the opposite direction. There were two folding tables set up and some kind of food could be smelled from the mess tent. Looks like they were making some kind of dinner for them, which would be welcome at this point.  
  
“Welcome, everyone," Orion said, his eyes settling on Kylee with unmistakable regret in his eyes. “Shall we begin?”

 

* * *

  
  
“Before we start, I’d like to ask a question," Jack looked up as the General addressed the oversized house cat as he took his seat. “What exactly are you?”  
  
Kylee was sandwiched between Carter and Daniel, which meant Daniel had decided to  play ball in her court which she seemed to appreciate.. Jack could see the dread in the girl’s eyes, maybe even a little anger.  
  
“We are creatures born of the first light, of newly formed stars. Not unlike in form as your ‘ascended’ beings as I have observed," Orion explained. Daniel piped up almost immediately, to absolutely nobody’s surprise.  
  
“Wait, you know about ascended beings? How?” the linguist asked.  
  
Orion hesitated on the answer. Jack suppressed a snort and an eye roll.. All these ‘higher plane’ people really had a bad habit of withholding the oh, so important ‘meaning of life’ stuff.  
  
“I encountered a small group of them when I first arrived, and since I compare to them in many aspects they asked that I respect their wishes and limit my interactions with you but I insisted on coming to find her. I agree that my prolonged presence here would upset the balance of this reality," Orion explained, creasing his nose as he did so. Jack wasn’t great at guessing at cat emotions, but he interpreted it as him having not really enjoyed the encounter so much. He could probably relate to that, given that so far the ascended beings his team had encountered  hadn’t been helpful so much as selectively destructive, as those Jaffa on Kheb had learned the hard way.  
  
“Alright, no meddling in the affairs of lower beings. Typical and unhelpful. But we’re used to it," Jack said, brusque as ever. He ignored the General shooting a disapproving look his way. They had every right to be miffed at this.  
  
The lion nodded, as if agreeing, surprisingly enough. “Protecting you from threats from outside of your reality is something I am capable of doing, and these beings take no issue with it, but they would prefer I do not overstay my welcome," Orion said, his eyes turning to Kylee.  
  
“So we’re not in any danger by this ‘Host’? The General asked.

  
“Most probably not. Even with Kylee’s presence here the likelihood of another breach from universes outside variations of your own timeline is slim," the cat continued, starting to sound a bit more like Carter with all this multiverse talk.  
  
“What do you mean exactly? About the variations of our own timeline?” Carter asked. Jack did roll his eyes at that. Now that the topic had come up they could be here all night talking about the intricacies of dimensional hoo-haa.  
  
“I mean that your universe has specific qualities that others do not. It is much easier for you to travel to another reality which has similar variables, such as the existence of your Stargate, than it would be to travel to a universe which has completely different qualities such as ours.”  
  
“Then how did I get here?” Kylee asked, finally speaking up for herself, looking at Orion with those piercing, blue eyes. The lion gave a rumbling sigh.  
  
“When the host exposed you into the energy stream, you were wounded temporally. Your timeline fractured and those fragments scattered throughout the multiverse." O’Neill grimaced at the cat’s story. He’d been wounded before, critically, and come far too close to death. Come to think of it, he’d died at least once, but wounded ‘temporarily’? He wasn’t sure he’d wish that on his worse enemy, even if this kid came out of it no worse for wear. For the most part. Might need to work on those coping skills but given she was apparently some civilian thrust into a ridiculous scenario like she’d described, it was no wonder she was only hanging in there.

 

“I’m one of those fragments then? I’m just a piece of myself?” Kylee asked weakly, the cracks in her armor were hard to miss.  
  
“Yes. Most of these fragments where incorporeal, and have been collected and restored to the original. A few, like yourself, had taken shape in the universes in which they had landed. I doubt you even realize the wounds you are temporally healing from, as the original Kylee doesn’t. But because you became corporeal, taking you back to our universe would cause many problems. Since you are now aligned with this universe -- simply because you interacted with it, your original self will not be able to absorb you. That is why, if you wish to continue living, you will need to stay here.”

 

That brave face melted away in that moment as she opened her mouth to speak and nothing came out. Eventually, she realized that she had nothing to say to that and turned her head down, hands pushing into her hair as she let out a heavy exhale. Jack had to give it to the lion-being. He did appreciate that they at least knew why she was here now, though having answers didn’t exactly fix the problem. What exactly where they going to do with her? It was like discussing what to do with a stray puppy that followed them home when the owner refused to take it back. The problem with puppies around the SGC, they tend to be a lot of responsibility and everyone was almost certainly too busy… This metaphor was getting away from him. Jack sighed softly and returned his attention to the General as he spoke up.  
  
“With all due respect, while we don’t intend to turn her away, isn’t there another universe which would be better suited to accommodating her abilities?” General Hammond asked, folding his hands as his own eyes fell to the girl. Carter reached a hand to comfort her but almost immediately withdrew it, as if second guessing her action. Ky shot her a look, a little annoyed, but mostly despairing before pulling her arms in to make herself a bit smaller in her chair. Jack wasn’t sure what to make of that movement, not until he saw the static visibly jump off of the girl’s back and crackle against the chair. Seemed like Carter had already gotten a taste of that.  
  
The lion shook his head sadly. “Due to her temporal wounds, there are, far too many risks to even attempt to remove her from this reality at this time. I could not predict that she’d survive any method I have at my disposal. Furthermore, it would take time to scout other universes for suitability, and that alone I cannot commit to. Vowing to protect your universe from outside threats is the best I can do.” So sayeth ‘Space Aslan’. O’Neill shook his head, glancing up when the kid rose from her seat and moved to leave. She hesitated.  
  
“...Can I be excused?” Carter turned her eyes up to the girl when she stood, trying to look sympathetic, but she didn’t look nearly as certain as she usually did. She was also letting the lion get away with all the technotalk which meant she had a lot of other things on her mind. That, or it was just out of respect. Either way he didn’t need to stick around to hear any more than he already had.  
  
“I’ll keep an eye on her, Sir,” Jack said, volunteering himself.  
  
“Very well. Just don’t go outside of the camp perimeter," the General ordered as Jack rose from his seat.  
  
“Yes siir," Jack replied before following Kylee out past the lights and into the darkness. How she planned to see where she was going, Jack didn’t know, but from her expression, it either hadn’t occurred to her, or it didn’t seem to be an issue. The twin moons certainly illuminated the area pretty well so maybe she’d be fine. He didn’t even really need  the flashlight in his vest.

They walked on in silence at a fairly normal pace. He was pretty sure she hadn’t burst into speed simply because he was there. What that said for her presence of mind, he didn’t know. He just had a soft-spot for people screwed over by fate, and she definitely qualified.

 

Neither one of the said anything, but he wanted her to know he was there. It was just a matter of whether or not she was going to open up to him or not.

* * *

  
  
That was it then.  
  
She had her answer. No more wondering if there was a way home or not, no wasting time on solutions based on conjecture and theories of concepts that even Sam didn’t completely understand. There was no point, she was stuck here for good.  
  
While she stormed off into the darkness, nearly tripping on the tall grass, she was aware that the Colonel had followed her, so she kept herself to a normal-ish pace. She would run, but where would she go? There wasn’t exactly a place she knew of where she could just hang out to be alone with her thoughts on this planet. To do that she’d have to wait until they got back to the base.  
  
She slowed and turned her head back to the figure following her, his eyes meeting hers and she fought back angry tears as she stared at him. She could easily just spout off a dozen angry words at him, but it wasn’t his fault. It wasn’t anyone’s fault. Lashing out at the Colonel was just pointless.

But that was the problem.  
  
“So?” the Colonel said as he neared her.  
  
“So what?” she asked a bit too coldly.  
  
“That was pretty demoralizing," the military man said.  


 

Kylee scoffed, shaking her head.“Oh, you think?” Okay, maybe she wasn’t doing the best job at restraining herself  from taking out her anger on him, but she felt like she was about to explode with all the emotions running rampant through her head and heart. He was kind of lucky she didn’t just burst out yelling at him, no matter how she knew it wasn’t his fault.’  
  
“You’re not exactly doing a good job at hiding it," O’Neill said, and Ky conceded that, glancing down. She appreciated his attempt, but that did not make him a particularly good therapist.  
  
“I’m not gonna pretend like I understand half of the stuff they were talking about. And Daniel’s a lot better at the inspirational speeches,” the Colonel said with an air of irony.  Kylee laughed softly, if a tad bitterly.  
  
“It’s funny… Daniel just did that before the General came," Kylee said as she wiped her eyes with her sleeve.

  
“Ah. Did he now?”  
  
“Missed the mark," Kylee said grimly, exhaling a heavy breath. “Can’t account for finding out that you’re not even real.”  
  
“That’s not what he said," the Colonel admonished. “He said you were a part of the other you. And that you’re real here. I understood that much. And that means you’re one of us whether you like it or not.”  
  
Pouting, she turned her eyes away from him, back to the darkness of the night. A strange cicada-like sound chimed from the grass and she was pretty sure there was some small critter playing in the bushes near the trees. Her temper still simmered inside of her, although it had  faded a bit, making her feel the chill from the cold weather.  
  
“Look. Why don’t you… show me what you can do? That’s what we were supposed to be doing here anyway,” O’Neill suggested, gesturing to the open space ahead of them. “Blow off a little steam, give us a light show.”  
  
“Are you sure about that?” Ky said, glancing down at her hands and letting some static jump between her fingers.  
  
“Go for it, Sparky. Knock yourself out,” he said, before taking his radio and clicking it. “Base camp. This is O’Neill. Be aware that I’ve authorized usage of her power so disregard any bright lights in the air field. Also, if you don’t want to become a high voltage neon light, best keep your distance. Over.”  
  
“Acknowledged," replied the Staff Sergeant who manned the base.

 

Kylee heard Sam’s voice as well, also acknowledging the Colonel’s course of action and she felt that ache creep back up along with memories of her mom. The way that she’d left it, losing her temper over something petty when all she had to do was…  
  
She frowned and knit her brows, angry that the one responsible wasn’t here to take it all out on.  Instead, she targeted the stack of lumber laying neatly in a pile on the other side of the field. If she started a fire, she could always just put it out.  Besides, they wanted a show. Raising a hand, she formed a ball of lighting and whipped it out at the wood pile with a thunderous crack.

* * *

 

Another electrical burst hit the air, leaving Sam somewhat stunned by the display as she watched with the rest of SG-1, the General and their guest. Her teeth grit slightly, turning her attention back to Orion who was staring at the display himself with a disapproving gaze. Teal’c on the other hand was studying the scene intently.  
  
“Ah, is it safe for Jack to be down there?” Daniel asked carefully  
  
“Your friend is no danger. She is in control," Orion offered simpy.  
  
“Should I go accompany them?” Teal’c offered, perhaps a veiled attempt to get closer to the action. There wasn’t much for him to discuss on the matter, Sam didn’t blame him.  
  
“I’d rather we keep our distance," Hammond replied curtly.  
  
“Orion," Sam said, turning her attention back to the great beast. “Is there any way to turn her powers off? To suppress them, perhaps?”  
  
Orion turned his head to look at herr. “What would you intend to do with such knowledge?”  
  
“Help her to transition into civilian life on our world. With powers like hers, it would be difficult to get her clearance to go off base. It could take months," Sam replied, glancing to Hammond who nodded firmly.  
  
“You understand that we are coming from a top secret facility. Anything that could be linked back to Stargate command must be kept from the public eye. I assure you that anything we do we would keep her best interest in mind,” the General replied, keeping his eyes on the lion.  
  
“I understand your concern, and I do believe with you, I am leaving her in good hands.” Though his gaze was pointed at Carter when he said that. She gave a polite, thin smile. It wasn’t hard to assume that he was referring mostly to her.  
  
“Indeed. We will see to it that no harm comes to her," Teal’c said with an air of respect for the creature.  
  
“I will tell you what you need to know, but I do not believe it would be easy to produce such a device quickly. If I had known you required one I would have supplied it to you," Orion said, turning his head slightly as another loud boom could be heard crackling through the airfield.  
  
“What do you mean?” Daniel asked, and with a gesture, the Lion materialized a backpack on the table with a wave of his paw.  
  
“Kylee… The one who is still in our world, insisted I carry these materials with me as a care package for any of her other selves left stranded. I understand this is a custom humans practice for those who are homesick,” Orion replied. “As I said, if I had known I would have included a power inhibitor.”  
  
“How… thoughtful," Daniel said, reaching for the bag to examine it. It was Navy blue with black lining (seemed to be a color theme with her ) a keychain with a neon blue lightning bolt dangled from the zipper. Sam gave a wistful smile before turning her eyes to Hammond.  
  
“Explain it to me then, Orion. I’ll figure it out," she insisted. Hammond gave her a nod, silently excusing her from the table and he stood as well heading off towards the staff sergeant, pointing to the backpack (to have it checked out, she presumed).

  
Drawing a pen and paper from her tacvest, she looked up to the Lion and offered a friendly smile. Whatever it took to make this work, she’d do it. “Alright, big guy. Lay it on me.”

* * *

  
  
  
It had been nearly half an hour of constant power usage before she tapped out. The energy she spent running and the energy she spent throwing volley after volley into the air wasn’t enough. The rest, what she could spare, she decided to drop into the ground. It left her tired and panting, laying in the grass while the Colonel looked down at her.  
  
“That was cool," he said bluntly. Then he reached down to take her hand and hoist her up. She took the hand and forced herself to her feet, wobbling a bit.  
  
“Now that that’s out of your system, it’s time to go.” O’Neill said, more of an order now than the suggestive tone he’d taken before, but kept his voice relaxed, steady and measured. No rush.  
  
Ky snorted, more than a little tempted to give him a shock for his trouble, something like a joy buzzer, but you didn’t bite the hand that feeds you. Maybe if she was in a better mood she might try to get a rise out of him. She’d keep it in mind for some other time, but not now.

 

  
Together, they trudged back up the hill to the camp. Eventually  Sam and Orion came into view, standing together talking about something. Teal’c and Daniel stood near the table, and the airmen were in the mess tent, eating. Her stomach gurgled a bit, but she wasn’t sure she was in the mood to eat. She had too much to think about now. She looked to Orion and felt her throat constrict as she fought back the tears once again. As they approached, they stopped talking. The large lion turned to her and pulled her towards him with his paw, nuzzling her with his oversized head.  
  
“I know," he said gently. “If there were any other way, child, I would do it. But I cannot bring myself to risk your safety. The fact that you are here at all is an amazing feat and shows how strong your will is.”  
  
Kylee heard the finality in his voice and clung tighter (and if a few tears slipped out, well, who cared?) “Will you be back?” she asked, looking up at him with hope in her eyes.  
  
“Kylee. You know we wouldn’t abandon you. If I am able, I will try to return one year from today.” He said, nuzzling her again before withdrawing.  
  
“Do you have everything you need?” Orion said, addressing Sam.  
  
“I think so. Thanks," she said courteously, then turning to Ky. “You gonna be okay?”  
  
Kylee nodded, turning her gaze away from Sam and pulling her arms in close, shivering a bit from the cold. She watched  Orion as he looked to the General and nodded to him. “Well met, SG-1. Until we meet again.”  
  
“Try calling ahead, next time you’re in town,” O’Neill said glibly.  
  
“...I will try," Orion said with an amused tone, before dashing off into the forest. A few moments later they could see a faint ball of light zipping off into the sky like a shooting star. Kylee watched the sky long after his light had faded, hoping for just one more trace of her friend’s departure. She didn’t know how long she stood there before he felt a heavy jacket get placed on her shoulders. Turning her head she she saw Major Carter smiling at her, hands clasping on her shoulders to give her a gentle rub.  
  
“C’mon. Let’s go back," the woman said, clearly trying to do right by her. She couldn’t hide the watery smile, even while lowering her head. The gesture of rubbing her arms and pulling her in for a side hug was enough to draw a smile out of her, but she couldn’t hold back the tears anymore. So she stopped fighting them, finally letting them fall from her eyes.

 

  
  
Without a word she nodded and started back towards the gate with the rest of the team and the General in tow.


	7. Decisions

 

General Hammond sat in his office staring at the papers on his desk (consisting mostly of mission reports), knowing he really should be reading them, but his mind was stuck on the instructions he'd received not twenty minutes ago. Sometimes he really hated being a General. Of course, that was why he'd been chosen, and why he'd accepted. Someone had to make the hard decisions, and it may as well be someone who could take a step back and keep every side in mind. This case in particular was no different.    
  
In light of meeting the other-worldly being called Orion and learning about Kylee’s status as a dimensional refugee, Hammond made arrangements for more permanent accommodations. To start, a larger guest quarters and a requisition allowance for clothes and any other item within reason.    
  
It wasn’t going to be an easy transition for any party involved. All he could do was hope that his people would act professionally, and that they could stave off any outside interference. It may yet be an uphill battle to keep her on the base,  but he still had a few tricks up his sleeve.

A knock on the door sounded, drawing him out of his thoughts. He blinked and looked up.

"Come in."   
  
Major Carter, followed by Colonel O’Neill, walked into the room, each holding the reports and evaluations from their excursion to Alpha site. He had waved the debrief since he’d been included in the proceedings with Orion, their reports being more important in the interim.    
  


"Anything that I should keep an eye on when I look these over?" he asked Jack.

 

"Well sir, she can thoroughly kick our collective asses if she wanted and hasn’t. Which I take to be a good sign." Colonel O’Neill was not an easy man to win over, though he had historically had a soft spot for the younger, more vulnerable people who have come through that gate. As such he was able to connect with them in ways many soldiers could not. It granted him a unique perspective in this case, as apparently the two of them had done some bonding. He seemed more than willing to give the kid a fair shot and Hammond couldn’t see a reason not to as of yet.

 

"It's certainly a mark in her favor," the General said to O’Neill’s snark. He turned to Sam and nodded to her. "What about her powers?"

 

"She easily compares and exceeds the kind of speeds we reached with the Tok'ra arm bands. She doesn't have the kind of super strength we did because her powers work differently, but there are definite signs of her body gaining resistance to extreme friction and pressure."   
  


Gen. Hammond raised an eyebrow, inviting her to continue on.

 

"She said she can reach up to Mach 5, and the kind of pressure that would place on a human body is..."   
  


O'neill looked to Carter, then to Hammond.   
  


"It's enough to make Carter pause for dramatic effect, Sir. Not to mention the little lightshow she put on for us. It’s not just her speed. She could do some serious damage if she wanted to and I think it’d be stupid to get on her bad side for no reason. 

 

“Truth is, General, she’s an absurdly powerful kid, but we need to keep in mind that she is still just a kid. ” Too true, Colonel, too true.    
  
“We haven’t had a chance to really test her electrical abilities yet," Sam offered.   
  
“Which is why we probably shouldn’t be giving any open door access to the the NID any time soon," the Colonel said.    
  


Hammond secretly agreed with Colonel O'Neill, but he was nothing if not professional, so he sent a disapproving look at Jack (which the man would undoubtedly ignore) before turning back to the Major.

  
"Aren’t these powers putting her body at risk?"   
  


Sam shook her head again, looking decidedly incredulous.   
  


"I don't know, sir. I'm not seeing anything immediate, but she seems to be able to absorb kinetic energy. That could have something to do with how well her body is holding up as it’s more than likely she can absorb impacts as well as any other kinetic motion around her. Testing will probably need to be ongoing until we fully understand them. For starters, I’d like to take some X-rays and an MRI to get a closer look at her bones and joints.”   
  
“That shouldn’t be difficult to arrange,” Hammond said, looking to her to continue.   
  
“If we can understand how her body has been modified we might be able to revolutionize the medical field," she added, seeming more optimistic about that.

 

Hammond looked surprised. "You think we could transfer some of her powers?" Well, he never thought he'd say that in a serious conversation.

 

"I don't know, sir. But being able to better understand her biology couldn't hurt."

 

Hammond nodded in agreement.

 

"Well, since you're here I'll inform you now. Kylee has been given refugee status, and will remain confined to base until further notice. We'll schedule regular outings to the alpha site for testing but I've been ordered to maintain the same security protocols as before." The decision came from the top, given the news of her permanent residency. 

 

"Ah. Testing. Because that's the highlight of any young girl's day."

 

Sam tightened her lips at that one, glancing up at the Colonel and raising an eyebrow.

 

"Sir, don’t you think it would be wise to start planning ahead? She’s got something the military obviously wants, which means now that they know she’s staying they’ll probably be wanting results," O’Neill took his chance to continue, and he had a point. It was only a matter of time.   
  
“I’m open to suggestions," Hammond said curtly.   
  
“The kid’s running around in a costume trying to save people. While not particularly sane, her values align with ours. Give her a shot at joining the SGC down the line. ” O’Neill said, though Hammond wasn’t sure that was entirely objective. As much as Jack relished in the thought of having a real superhero watching his six, the whole caped crusader thing wasn’t going to fly with the top brass.

  
Gen. Hammond thought about that for a few moments. “At some point in the future, it’s more than possible we could incorporate her into the SGC, but for now it’s best to give her time to settle into life on the base. As for joining the military, that’s currently over my head, unless you meant as a civilian consult.”   
  
“If she’s still considered a foreign entity I’m not sure how likely that would work given all the red tape. Even then I don’t think she’d be thrilled about that idea," Carter replied.   
  


"We have Teal'c on SG1, you can’t get more foreign than that," O’neil pointed out. “Aand before he joined the team, Teal’c was Apophis’ first prime.” Hammond had to admit that Teal’c had  been an indispensable asset, hence why he’d been assigned to their flagship team. That was no small feat, and like Kylee, he was highly sought after by military interest to be studied like a lab rat.   
  
“What else have you found out about her? Aspirations? Was she in school?” The General asked, his attention squarely on Carter now.   
  
"I think so," she said, though she didn’t seem certain. “She told me about her school and that it was similar to MIT, although I don’t think it exists in our reality, but that implies engineering and technology." Major Carter couldn’t entirely hide the look of pride that formed on her face when she mentioned that. The fact that she had that much in common with the young lady served to bring them together. Hammond couldn’t help but approve.

  
"See? Engineering. We could always use those," O'Neill said.

  
"We do have plenty of engineers here in the SGC who could tutor her," Carter pointed out helpfully. “Plus she’s already given us a piece of technology from her reality. It may be simple but it may advance digital technology by at least a decade.”   
  


Gen. Hammond nodded thoughtfully. He’d seen the item manifest from her personal belongings and was well aware of the little device she had brought along with her.    
  


"Once we see how far along her studies are, we can talk about an internship. It wouldn't hurt to give her an allowance as well." After all, it would only benefit them to make her stay here as comfortable as possible.   
  


"Aw c’mon General, you’re really gonna keep her cooped up down here? Studies and work?" O’Neill said, cynical as ever.   
  


Gen. Hammond shook his head, not liking to have to reiterate. "As of right now, she isn't allowed off base, with exception of the Alpha site, at all. Disobedience could land her in confinement."   
  


That didn't exactly answer O'Neill's question, but it was Sam who spoke up.   
  


"Sir, she's human. From Earth."    
  


"Not our Earth, Major."   
  


"What does that have to do with it?"   
  


O’Neill was frowning at his 2IC, but he knew better than anyone how sensitive these things could be and how objective Hammond, as the General, had to be. He would find loopholes when he could but this was a direct order he would be defying.    
  
“Major, you asked Orion about a way to turn off her powers. What did he tell you?” Hammond asked, and between the two of them they knew that was the only loophole they had where her leaving the base was concerned. It had to be under control. (Meaning, of course, the Government’s control.)   
  
Major Carter sighed softly, then nodded. “He gave me instructions, but it may take a few weeks to get something working.”   
  


“If you can get that up and running, her odds of getting clearance rise significantly," Hammond said, glancing up to the Major. “Until then we have our orders.”   
  
“And what if those orders change?” O’Neill asked. Hammond was glad to see the Colonel going up to bat for this one. The kid could use as many people in her corner as possible. Still, that did not necessarily make it any easier.   
  
“We’ve been doing all we can on that front. She doesn’t have any official documents and her only known ties to anyone on this planet are likely considered tenuous at best” Hammond said.   
  
“You mean like Family,” O’Neill said dryly, shaking his head. “How big of a sticking point is that?"   
  
“About that, Sir…” Carter began, then paused.   
  
“Yes, Major?” Hammond asked.   
  
“If it would help her case, I could claim her. As family. Officially," the woman said, a return of that unusual uncertainty that Hammond was just simply not used to hearing.   
  


"It may serve as an anchor to the SGC, which couldn’t hurt even if she is technically an adult," General Hammond replied thoughtfully. "But only if you're sure, Major."   
  


"It... may make me uncomfortable, sir, but she shouldn't have to be locked up for circumstances outside of her control. If I can help with that, I will."   
  


Gen. Hammond conceded with a nod. "You have a point, Major. I'll have the paperwork drawn up for you. You may want to go and inform her of this yourselves. You have some leave that’s well overdue as well, I suggest you make the best of it. Dismissed."   
  


* * *

  
Sam sat at the briefing room table with her hands entwined and supporting her chin as she contemplated the past few days while it weighed heavily on her mind.  .Specifically the words of her father, the way he opened his arms so willingly to take Kylee into their family despite her not really being her own daughter. And yet, Kylee might not be hers, but she’d been born to a woman who may as well have been her twin. It would be a lie if she said she didn’t feel some kind of kinship with Ky, but the level of commitment she had just made was not an easy decision and she still wasn’t completely sure she was ready for it.  
  
Then again, who really ever was?   
  
Granted, Ky was not a child in the way Cassie had been and independent enough to handle herself in most situations despite the questionable state of her emotional stability. she did need support, and possibly a mentor to help navigate through this new world and try to avoid some of the speed bumps along the way. And with the way these meetings were going, there would undoubtedly be plenty of speed bumps. That alone would make just about anyone back down , but, as intimidating as it was, it couldn’t realistically be harder than fighting the goa’uld. Right?  
  
Sam realized now that she’d been trying to keep herself from getting too invested. It was an instinctive response and a defense mechanism she’d relied on more than once. It had, , in a way, served her well --  career wise mostly,. It made sense as she had, sometimes to her chagrin, always chosen her career. But this was different. This would be made official on paper. She would be _adopting_ a child of her own…

 

She sighed, thinking again about her father, and how much he’d changed. She wouldn’t say that his blending with Selmak had been the best thing that had ever happened to him, but it was close. She’d never really thought she’d be this  happy to have him in her life again. Maybe having Kylee around would be good for both of them.   
  
Maybe.   
  
Biting her lip, she rose to her feet and walked towards the stairs. She nodded to SGT Harriman who was walking back to his post at the control panel,. The elevator took her the rest of the way, up to level 15 and Kylee’s room. Upon reaching her destination, she could hear the vague sounds of cartoons playing on the television. Raising her hand towards the door, knuckles poised to knock she hesitated, wondering if now was really the best time. She shook off the feeling of doubt, and steeled herself, rapping on the door a couple of times and waiting.   
  


When the girl answered the door, Sam couldn’t help but take note of her hair, tangled and messy from lying in bed. That  and the oversized air force hoodie gym shorts combo indicated that she hadn’t been planning on leaving her room any time soon. As the girl ran a hand through her hair to tuck it behind her ears she gave a polite smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes. Eyes that were wet and puffy from recently crying, but tears were replaced by that colder, measured gaze as she tried to keep herself together. 

 

It was a familiar sight. Sam remembered the same look in her eyes when she’d lost her own mother.

 

“What’s up?” Kylee said, tugging on a lock of her hair as she stood there looking at the Major. It struck her again how this kid has sure  had a rough couple of weeks, and she was probably about as low as one could get, emotionally. They had to turn that around. Hopefully what she had to offer the girl now would help with that.   
  
“I... “ Sam pressed her lips together as she hesitated.. “I just want to talk to you for a little while. If that’s okay." Kylee’s eyes narrowed in confusion, but she stepped aside to let the older woman into her room. Out of habit, Sam scanned the space briefly. She saw the pile of books in the box that Daniel had brought her, the backpack Orion had given her on the desk unzipped and some t-shirts laying next to it.There wasn’t much else that even suggested anything personal.   
  
“Are you holding up alright?” Sam asked, hopeful that Ky would be receptive. The girl took the remote to turn the TV onto mute, the show was some kind of strange japanese cartoon involving a man with spiky black hair fighting what looked like an obese pink alien. She didn’t understand the appeal.    
  
“I’m okay. So what do you want to talk about?” It was good that Ky wasn’t shutting them out, which was a positive sign in Sam’s estimation. Sam knew she felt trapped here, and that was to be expected given how she operated. They were going to accommodate her, it was just a matter of organizing that effort now the best they could.   
  
“I just finished speaking with General Hammond. Due to your status as an off world refugee, and your powers, you’re still going to be confined to base and the Alpha Site,” Sam said, figuring Kylee wouldn’t want her to sugar-coat it

 

 

Sam looked her over, thinking about how powerful that this girl really was. She could likely take the base faster than they could even hope to defend against. Hell, she probably had the power to destroy it if she wanted to without even breaking a sweat. The girl was angry and hurt but the fact that she wasn't lashing out said a lot about her personality and character. She was just acting like a normal girl who probably felt like a prisoner. With all that power she had, and all of the impulsive things she did, she had remarkable restraint.

Kylee spun around immediately, looking dejected -- almost betrayed.   
  


"I know it isn't ideal," she said, cutting off any protests from Kylee, "but we were discussing ways to integrate you into this world. Starting with continuing your college courses. You mentioned something about that, right? We can also get you an internship with some of the engineers here. And once you’re finished with your degree, you’d have a job here whether you choose to join the military or not.”    
  
Kylee scoffed. “I get the sense they’re gonna be pushing for the military option.”   
  
“It’s possible. I didn’t think you’d be too excited about that," Sam admitted, not exactly surprised at her grim tone. “We have plenty of civilian consults, and as an engineering student you’d have a lot of options even in a non combat capacity. Daniel isn’t military, but he’s a irreplaceable member of SG1. You should talk to him about that.”   
  
Kylee’s eyes lit up a little, her entire expression shifting into something far more hopeful. Sam was glad that that caught her interest. It was like a veil was lifted and she could see the horizon, something beyond these four walls; a new door had opened. In fact, with the Stargate, the possibilities were endless. There were so many incredible things Sam could show her, she…   
  
Sam sighed and gave a the girl a hesitant look.   
  
“Beyond that, there’s one other thing that we can do that would go a long way in protecting your interests.. And that’s for me to… claim you as family. Officially," he said, looking to the girl for her response.   


* * *

  
Kylee was stunned. It wasn’t like they hadn’t broached the topic before, after all, Jacob asked her to look to them like family and she’d accepted it in the same way one might accept an unfamiliar, distant family member at a reunion. This was far more personal. Kylee looked away, drawing in a shaky breath as she thought about it.    
  
“How would that even work?” She asked earnestly, though Sam’s facial response indicated she may have said it too brusquely.   
  
“I mean… It wouldn’t make sense for me to be your kid... And that would be awkward to explain... What… would we be to each other?” Kylee asked. A single, young adult woman in her thirties and a twenty year old? Math just didn’t add up.   
  
“I don’t know. I can’t say it’s something I’m comfortable with, but you said before that your mom is more like a cosmic twin sister, which… “ Sam paused thoughtfully. “I guess would make you more like a niece.”    
  


Silence fell as the younger girl continued to try and process the situation.

  
“I guess that wouldn't be so bad," Kylee finally said, letting out a heavy breath. She had to concede. What this woman was offering to do for her was so far beyond the call of duty, even for family. And while Kylee knew the other woman wasn’t the most comfortable with this, she’d offered anyway. It was enough to make her catch voice in her throat.    
  
“You’re in luck. I’ve already got experience as an auntie," Sam quipped lightly, reaching over to pat the girl on the shoulder, this time without any hint of hesitation. It was trust, or really, more of an olive branch. Kylee wasn’t sure she deserved it. “The truth is, this could circumvent a lot of political problems down the line. Nobody wants to see you get swept up in that.”   
  
“I get it," Kylee said, reaching up to wipe her eye briefly. She wasn’t sure how to deal with this right then. It just brought those thoughts she was trying to push down back up to the surface.   
  
“Something wrong?” Sam asked, clearly noticing the look of shame on the girl’s face.   
  
“I just… Don’t…” She exhaled heavily and shook her head. “It’s going to take a while before I don’t see her when I look at you. You understand that, right?”   
  
“I’m not trying to take her place," Sam said gently.    
  
“I know.... I just never got the chance to tell her about everything I was doing. What I was. Who I was. And she was picking up on that I was different and… Maybe I wasn’t making the best choices. Last thing I did was argue with her and it’s still pretty fresh. And then I disappeared. I don’t know how much time passed or if she even knew I was gone..” She could feel her eyes welling up again as she replayed the last conversation with her mom in her mind. She looked back fo Sam, searching her eyes for understanding.   
  
Sam met her eyes and nodded, almost like she’d gone through the same thing herself. She got that look in her gaze -- the same matter-of-fact look of confidence. She’d made her decision and wasn’t looking back, even if all of this wasn’t exactly something she had planned for or really wanted. Ky felt bad about that, more or less intruding on Sam’s life like this, but she couldn’t help but feel grateful for all the woman had done (and was promising to do) for her.   
  
“It’s… It’s just going to take a while," Kylee said again, probably looking as guilty as she felt. Her eyes met Sam’s again.    
  
“Well… C’mere," Sam said, pulling Ky into a hug. It caught her off guard, but she would be lying if she didn’t think she needed it. The gesture was not unwelcome, and it managed to shut her up long enough to get the point across, they were family now. Whatever would come may come, through stormy weather, etc etc. Jacob had already decided that when they’d had met, she thought, but she guessed Sam just needed more time to process that. She did too.   
  


  
  
  
She withdrew from the hug and reached back to rub her neck.   
  
“So what comes next?” Kylee asked.   
  
“The General gave us a few days leave, so I’ll have some free time to help you figure that out. Or you could help me," Sam said, offering a smile.   
  
“With what?” Ky asked, growing a bit curious.   
  
“I’ve got a few side projects I think you might be interested in. Then there’s looking into college and sorting that out," She paused, hesitating before adding. “And there’s also the matter of the the power dampener that Orion told me about.”   
  
“...He told you about that, huh?” Kylee’s lips tightened. Of course she knew she could tell Sam about that, but it wasn’t usually something she wanted people to know.    
  
“I’m sorry, it seemed like the only way they would authorize you to go off base in the foreseeable future," Sam added simply, offering a sympathetic gaze.   
  
“It will take a while. I don’t fully understand it," Kylee admitted. Sam was right, she was going to have to make that sacrifice eventually if she was going to live here.   
  
“You’re taking that a lot better than I thought," Sam said cautiously.    
  
“I… Well. I guess I’m a realist. And Orion seems to trust you people, so I keep running out of reasons  _ not _ to trust you," Kylee said, moving to sit on the edge of the bed, pulling on knee up to lean on and shooting a coy look at Sam.

  
“You’re going to have to tell us the story behind that guy. Sounds like you guys have an interesting history," Sam said, ignoring Ky’s snark on the matter of trust.   
  
“Oh… Yeah. I bet Daniel’s gonna geek out on that one," Ky said, pressing her cheek into her hands. She was beginning to like that guy. Hard not to.   
  
“Oh, I’d take that bet," Sam said, sitting on the bed next to her. “I know this place can seem pretty cold. The military brass has never been in touch with their emotions. And Sometimes I have trouble with it too. You’re not supposed to get emotionally invested. But in this line of work, at the SGC, sometimes things just aren't that easy. Basically what I’m trying to say is, as far as we’re concerned you’re the SGC’s kid now. We’ll look out for you," Sam explained, nudging her gently with her elbow.   
  
“Y’know… I hear what you’re saying but that sounds like you’re just gonna line me up for drills any day now," Kylee snarked in reply, but then turned to smile at Sam. “But thank you.”

  
"Maybe if you sass the Colonel a little too much. And he'd probably enjoy it too," Carter admitted, smiling softly.

  
"Oh, joy," Ky said, giving a soft sigh. It was in good humor, though they both knew it was partially true. 

  
“What do you say we go get something to eat?” Sam suggested, like she knew that Ky wasn’t about to turn down a meal. Half true, as she was hungry, she just didn’t feel like she was in the mood to eat in the commissary. Bbut skipping meals was generally a bad idea, especially for her   
  
“Uh, sure,” Ky said and slid off the bed, reaching to slip on a fresh pair of BDU slacks over her shorts, guessing that those were not proper attire for walking around the base. Walking, not running. What a concept. “Think I’m gonna crash after that. Kinda been one hell of a day.”   
  
“Sure, kiddo.” Sam said, smiling at her. Ky met her eyes, then turned her head down with a smirk. Sam would never really know how close she was to her mom, and even while it stung a bit that she wasn’t really her, Kylee knew it was going to be alright. Maybe that woman in the glowing robes, the ascended person, sent her to Sam because she knew who she was and that it would be the best possible situation for her. She just had to have a little faith in that. Maybe she’d be able to thank the lady some day. She hoped so.   
  
  



	8. Turning Point

  
A year ago, a meteor shower had taken out the settlement near where SG-1 had been posted at for an astrological event on a mission. The shower had taken the gate with it, burying it under rubble. Jack had been trapped, and at some point in the hundred days he had lived there among the survivors, he actually thought he would be staying there for the rest of his life. He knew the kind of shell shock one could get from being told there was no way back and that moving forward wasn’t easy. He remembered digging every day after putting in hours of work on the village houses or working the fields. He’d chipped away at the pile of debris until his knuckles bled and and muscles ached, with no reward. Eventually, he stopped digging for the stargate, but he’d had some faith that they’d find him eventually.

This was different. Kylee had no place to dig, no hope of going home. She had to make a home here.   
  
They’d gotten lucky with this one and would be utterly stupid if they didn’t treat her right. They rarely got lucky with these sorts of things as most of the time the potential powerful allies either wanted nothing to do with them or turned out to be not so cooperative (sometimes downright hostile) in the end. This one -- this kid -- was in survival mode. She cooperated with them mostly because it was a survival tactic, aside from the obvious personal connections she was making. Right now, Jack considered it to be his job to get her out of that mode so she could get on with her life and make a little headway. The silent misery was starting to get him down. Not to mention that Carter was pretty sure that she had figured out the puzzle they needed to make that get out of jail free card’ device to work.   
  
Returning his attention to the girl, she was chasing him as he moved around the empty room, hockey stick in hand and handling the tennis ball they were using as a hockey puck like a seasoned player. She was faster and more nimble, even without using her powers, but he was stronger and wider, able to use his body to block her from accessing the ball. Except when she got lucky and managed to get between him and the net, stealing the ball from him and shooting it into Teal’c’s boot. Like now. The score was still double zero with that Jaffa guarding the net, and with the stipulation she not use her powers or forfeit a point to Jack, it was turning out to be a pretty good distraction. He was glad he didn’t opt for skates, those blades they had now would be murder on his knees.   
  
He’d bribed her, not knowing idea she had a thing for hockey, but he was grateful it had worked. He never would have guessed even a couple of hours before, when he’d seen her in fullon geek mode in the lab, sitting there spinning a wire between her fingers, playing her snark off his when he addressed her.   
_  
_ _“Whatcha doin’?” Jack asked crassly. In his hand he held a plastic shopping bag with something wrapped up inside it._

 

_  
_

_  
_ _  
_ _“Science," She had said bluntly, trying to refrain from grinning at him. Her poker face was about as good as Carter’s, which is to say almost non existent if a deck of cards weren’t in play._ _  
_ _  
_ _“Ah. Clearly,” Jack said dryly as he continued his observation of her. “As opposed to moping around.”_ _  
_ _  
_ _“Been doing that too," Kylee rolled her eyes and spun a cable wire idly between her thumb and forefinger again. Her eyes hadn’t left the thing. “Just in case you were worried I wasn’t getting in some quality hours of feeling sorry for myself.”_

He’d thrown her the bag containing a Northstars jersey, and she’d broken. The smile that crossed her lips was one of those smiles he got when the armor was shattered. The armor she used against him was part of a game she was keen on playing, trying to outwit or out snark him. Either way she took the bait and here she was, dueling him for a ball and playing one of the toughest games of hockey anyone could hope to play. Nobody could get past Teal’cs defense. _  
_   
With the ball free again Ky had moved to pursue it, but her attention was drawn away to the familiar face of Carter up in the observation area. Probably to inform her about the tech’s completion but too polite to interrupt their game. His eyes lingered on her for a bit too long, which gave Kylee plenty of time to take advantage of his distraction to get the ball putting some distance between them and took a shot at the net. Teal’c repelled with extraordinary swiftness given his opponent’s natural agility. Teal’c blocked the second attempt, Jack simply waited for an opening, Kylee caught the tennis ball in her stick and moved to line up another shot.   
  
Jack swept in to (successfully) steal the ball and then moved away to get some distance on her. Ky turned on her heel and raced after him snatching it back and turning to make another shot at the net. The ball, to Jack’s great surprise, went between the bar and Teal’c’s knee, hitting the net and she gave a resounding “Yeah!”   
  
“One should not congratulate themselves until the battle is finished.” Teal’c said, in an almost taunting tone He seemed to be enjoying himself considering they’d been playing almost twenty minutes and that was the first score made.   
  
“At this rate, I’m gonna win,," she said, casting her eyes at him. “Colonel, you havin’ trouble keeping up?” Kylee jeered at him, leaning into her stick with a cocky little smile. The fact she was getting into the game, taunting him, being competitive at all,was a good sign she was recovering. All this kid needed was time, and TLC, and probably a better shrink than MacKenzie, but if all they had at their disposal for destressing was a hockey net and a couple of off duty hours, it’d have to do.   
  
“Lucky shot,” Jack said, nodding to Teal’c as he tossed the ball out to them. It wasn’t lucky. It was hard earned given how tough Teal’c s defense was. He was glad she was showing some nerve, and for him it was a sign that she was starting to pull out from under all that baggage. True, it was easy enough to fall back in, but they weren’t about to let that happen. In soldiering on, she was in good company.   
  
“Bring it on, fly boy,," Kylee smirked, watching as the Colonel reacted with all the reflexes of a seasoned soldier when Teal’c sent the ball towards them. Ky was on the move, heading towards him but he shielded the round object with his body and stick, and handled the ball until he could outpace the girl and make his shot. Teal’c deflected it with his stick, and the two both chased after it.   
  
He tossed the ball to Teal’c who threw the ball in turn back at them, which sent the two of them after it yet again. She pushed forward to intercept his bid for the ball, the two of them making it there about the same time. Again, Jack was using his body as a wall between herself and the ball, but this time she withdrew, and as he was lining to take a shot he felt her hand push against his shoulder. He stumbled and she _flipped_ (actually flipped) over him, leapfrogging just above his head and spinning to face him. Grinning, she took a shot, but the ball hit the bar of the net.   
  
He was about to remark on how illegal that move was, until he was interrupted by his 2IC.   
  
“Colonel.”   
  
“Major? You got any pressing matters to attend to or do you wanna come down and give your kid here a fighting chance?” Jack said, more or less disregarding her addressing him for the moment, but she’d have the next word for what she had to say.   
  
“Thems fightin’ words,” Kylee cut in, out of breath, before exchanging a glance between herself and the Jaffa goalie who promptly raised his eyebrow at her. She happily bit a smile back but broke into a challenging grin once Carter retorted.   
  
“Looks like she’s doing just fine on her own, sir,," Carter said, her lips somewhat tight when he called Ky ‘her kid’. Might take time to get used to the idea, “Think I could borrow her for a while?”   
  
“One more round," Kylee protested, raising a hand and holding up her pointer finger. She didn’t seem willing to call it quits quite yet. That was fine with Jack. He was so game. No matter what his knees said.   
  
“Kylee, the general wants to have a word with you, and before that I’d like to test out the power inhibitor,” Carter replied, gazing down at her. The kid looked crestfallen but nodded, holding herself far better than she had before they started. Go through that kind of hell and anyone would have the tendency to sink no matter how strong they are, but all this? He smirked a little as he saw her trudge towards the door. He could see it now. She wouldn’t quit. Good for her.   
  
“Go on kid, duty calls,” the Colonel said as  the girl handed him back the stick.   
  
“Alright. I want a rematch, though. On real ice next time,” he said, shoving her hands into her pockets and wandering out of the room.   
  
“You betcha,” Jack replied, as he watched her go.   
  


* * *

  
  
Once she managed to corral Ky from the Colonel’s hockey game, Sam herded her up stairs to the manufacturing lab only a few floors up from where they’d been. It was not the familiar setting of her own lab of which she had carved out a small section for herself to work, but all the work the kid had done was paying off.The lion, Orion, had touched Sam’s mind, giving her the information as opposed to having her actually write it down. Without Kylee, Sam was sure that it would take a few months to sort out all the details on how it actually worked. Her practical knowledge, having dealt with the technology before, knowing how it looked and how it felt, and even then the internal workings had accelerated the process. As reluctant as she was to do it, she knew there was a tangible reward in leaving the the base. And if it worked? Sam could probably get her off base as soon as tonight.   
  
“How’s it feel to be in a place where you can basically make anything?” Sam asked with a wry smile to the kid before her, and for the first time since she had the opportunity to work with that Orbanian girl Merrin. Mentoring was something she actually enjoyed which was why she was happy to give an astrophysics lecture to the Air force academy every year. She had half a mind to request Kylee be able to come along as a guest, or as her assistant but she wasn’t sure how jazzed Ky would be about that idea.   
  
“I got R &D privileges back home, so it’s refreshing to have something familiar,” Kylee said as she observed the room, looking around curiously. “Do you have a 3d printer?”   
  
“Well, we do although we don’t fire it up too often. It’s that one over there, and mainly used for prototyping." It would be fair to say it wasn’t the most cost effective machine they had at their disposal. She walked around to a long conveyor-belt machine that was just finishing the production; a pair of boot soles in Kylee’s size. “But I had your polymer requisitioned and manufactured. I think you’ll have some decent luck out in the field with new shoes.”   
  
“Oh. Awesome," Kylee said, rushing towards to take a look at it, but only tentatively touching the side of the rapidly cooling material. “No shoe makers on staff, I guess? Do I actually have a say in the boot’s design?”   
  
“We’ll see, but the more important thing is that I think if this stands up to you, it’ll stand up to most anything. We can test it once it sets, and if it works, you have your own patent," Sam replied, which was something that had to be music to the girl’s ears. It was a payoff for what had to be hours of work in her own world. “You should, too. You deserve it.”   
  
“Not the first time someone’s told me that. I didn’t really know if I should have. I mean, technically, like you said before, it was being a vigilante. I really didn’t want to get caught," she said, giving a soft laugh but her tone left something to be desired. “I guess I’ll have to come up with some actual use for that business class I took.”   
  
“Not quite as much fun as the R&D, I take it?” Sam said, patting her arm and pulling her onward to the other machine where she had been working most of the day assembling the power inhibitor, or ‘cuff’ as Kylee was fond of calling it ,though Sam would just have to agree to disagree on that point. “Any objections?”   
  
“I figured out the aesthetics. If I hate it, it’s my fault," Kylee replied with an indifferent shrug, but seemed a bit more interested when she picked up the device. The design was that of triangles intersecting with each other to create a solid band around the wrist; simple but functional. “It feels like my energy’s already flowing into it. I guess that means it works. Maybe we’ll have to figure out how to store the energy sometime and not just channel it out of me.”   
  
“What do you mean?” Sam asked, reaching over to connect the pieces together into the band as designed. hen offered to lock it in place around the girls wrist. Only a key from a member of SG-1 or Doctor Fraiser would be able to unlock it for the time being. SG-1 because they were closest to her socially and she would more than likely be assigned to work with them, lucky for her. It was for her personal security. Kylee looked a bit upset at the bracelet, but sighed while closing her eyes, as she were suddenly fatigued. Likely that was the case given how her metabolism seemed to work.   
  
“You alright?” she asked.

 

Kylee nodded. “I’m fine. It’s just not really a welcome sensation. Mostly bad guys were the ones to use these on me. But then, they always used collars so read into that however you like," Kylee said grimly, shaking her wrist briefly, then offering Sam a slight smile. “I guess the good part is I’ll actually be able to get a life now."  
  
“That’s one way to look at it. Let’s go to talk to General Hammond and run the tests. He’d like to talk to you about your future with the SGC.” At that, Ky puffed out her cheeks, and Sam knew she was itching to get out of her for a while. Fair enough. Not everyone was content working as long as she did, and as much as Sam hated to admit it, she could be considered a workaholic. She slept more than a few nights out of the week in her quarters, but it was clear that wasn’t the environment Kylee needed or was accustomed to. “What do you wanna do for dinner? I know this great pizza place.”   
  
“I could cook," Kylee offered, looking up as if considering what to make. “I’m not too bad at italian.”   
  
“I...Really? I would have thought you’d have jumped at the chance to go out for a change of pace." That was actually surprising.   
  
“Yeah but---” She laughed sheepishly. “I love cooking. I never really told you that. Or answered that question you asked me before. About what I like to do. I wasn’t sure how you’d react to the hero work, but… I really wasn’t seeing you for who you were either. More like tiptoeing around the idea that you looked like my mom. Maybe how you answered would have been the way she answered.”   
  
“Give your mom some credit, she was ahead of the curve, remember? IF she’s anything like me, she’d come around eventually. It’s kind of a difficult concept to process. Anyway, after Hammond authorizes you to go off base, we can head to my apartment," Sam said, rubbing a hand on her kid’s shoulder, then giving it a gentle shake. The kid shother a grateful smile.   


 

  
  
“Besides that-- I gotta pay you back for being so damn nice all the time, Major Carter," Kylee said cheekily, grinning up at the older woman.   
  
“I guess I can’t argue with that logic. C’mon, let’s go see General Hammond.” 

* * *

  
  
General Hammond looked up at the knock on his door, to which he responded with a curt, “Come in.”   
  
The door swung open to reveal Kylee Harwood standing next to Major Carter. It was clear to see the family resemblance, but he wasn’t about to show any more favoritism towards the two regarding these proceedings. Even while he considered the Major a good friend, he had to be objective, though there was thankfully no bad news to share with the two today.

“Go ahead and take a seat miss, Major," Hammond said, making a brief gesture to the two chairs before his desk. “I’ll get right to the point if that’s alright with you. As it currently stands I’d like to extend to you a position under this command, provided you complete a series of training regimes and you’d be assigned to SG-1 for a probationary period.”  
  
“Really?” Kylee asked, more than a little surprised. She glanced over to Carter briefly, then nodded. “Alright. Uh. That sounds fine.”

 

“That’s only for the short term. Kylee, I understand you would still like to attend college, is that correct?” Hammond asked, folding his hands over each other, looking the girl up and down. She nodded at the question so he continued. “I’ve been given a go ahead, with the completion and successful test of the inhibitor device to allow you to enroll in a college within the city limits. As long as your field of study is in service of a future position here at the SGC, the costs of tuition will be covered.”  
  
“So basically I can continue my degree and you’re paying for it? Just so long as I work for you when I graduate? Is that the only catch?” Kylee asked, glancing again to Major Carter for assurance.   
  
“You have to maintain your grades, obviously. It shouldn’t be all too difficult for you," Carter said supportively. The girl thinned her lips and glanced sideline at the elder of the two. Though amused at their somewhat sibling like interaction, Hammond didn’t let it show.  

 

“Are you guys sure you’re okay with that? Even if  it’ll probably not be until next semester before I can get in? I got into a college that was essentially the MIT of the midwest back home. Not sure but I don’t think those credits are going to transfer.” She looked down sadly when she spoke of home, but seemed to bounce right back with her sardonic comment afterward. Then her face softened a little. “ But Jack said you could use engineers. And this’ll be a surprise to absolutely no one, but its electrical engineering." Hammond nodded approvingly at that, Carter smiled with amusement in her eyes.  
  
“What do you think?” the old soldier asked.   
  
“I’m not going to say no to free school. I just need to know, do you expect me to join the military?” the girl asked.   
  
“The pentagon has decided that that option is up to you if you’d like to pursue that career. Your academic work and military service are not mutually exclusive. You’d have much higher responsibilities and expectations, as well as a higher measure of accountability," Hammond replied. In all honesty, he wasn’t all too concerned with that, and while he knew there was a section of the government who wanted to push the military enlistment, he was determined to give her that choice.   
  
She seemed to think about it for a moment before she sighed. “I’m going to have to decline. I’m…," she hesitated, then sighed softly, almost as though she regretted it. “I’m not ready for that sort of thing, even if I had an interest. Maybe someday I’ll change my mind, but it doesn’t make a heck of a difference either way right now. But school, yes. Even if I gotta wait till next semester.”   
  
“In the meantime you can continue helping me out in the lab and work with other members of the science team. General, isn’t there a lieutenant Rhoads managing the fabrication labs?” Carter asked, helpfully.   
  
“Three and a half months is plenty of time to get you situated as far as working in this program. You’ll effectively be an intern until you get your degree. At which time we’ll reevaluate your position unless circumstances suggest we need to take a look sooner. If you’re not off world you’ll be assigned tasks related to your field of study. You’ll report to the officer you’re assigned to.”   
  
“I understand, and that’s fair," the girl replied, thoughtfully, and Hammond was glad she was thinking about it, as well as acting rather professionally. “What about citizenship? I still have rights as an American, right?”   
  
“We’re still evaluating that as your situation is unique, but we do have paperwork for you to fill out so an identity can be fashioned for your cover story," Hammond replied.   
  
“And what’s that?” Kylee asked, a fair bit more unscrupulous than before, her brow raised at the elder general.   
  
“The details are something I’d like you two to work out together. Officially, she’s claimed you as family, as you know, but we have very few details about your life other than where you’re from. Once you have it sorted out you’ll be issued a state ID and official paperwork. But much like everything else, it’s probationary. Very likely, in the near future you will be awarded full citizenship." The girl rubbed a hand through her hair, tucking it behind her ear. Then the two women met gazes for a moment before the younger nodded in agreement.   
  
“Alright," she said firmly,  “I’m going to need some custom uniforms, though. I can design them based on my needs. Would that be alright? We’ve got the material now.” She seemed almost excited, Hammond nodded smiling kindly.

 

“Of course. You can consider that your first assignment as supervised by Major Carter,” Hammond replied. “You can get her situated, Major. If the device can be proven effective I’ll authorize temporary leave off base for twenty four hours," the General said , knowing well that Doctor Mackenzie had declared her fit for active duty as had Dr. Fraiser. The head doctor would, of course be the one to judge whether the device was working or not.  
  
“Uh, Thank you sir," Kylee said, pulling her lips tight in an abashed way. Still a bit too unused to the courtesies of military living, something she’d have to get used to, but she was making good strides.   
  
“Now, report to Doctor Fraiser for the assessment and you can be on your way. Dismissed," He said, watching the two of them rise from their seats and head out the door.

* * *

 

 

  
By the time she had gotten on the treadmill, it was getting difficult to stay keep moving with how weakened she felt compared to how she was . She felt so sluggish and slow. Like wading through molasses. Or maybe that was just her waxing poetic. It was far slower than what she was used to but anything would be compared to the super sonic velocities she enjoyed. Even then, she was clocking in at an impressive 45 miles an hour, arguably far too fast for a normal human.   
  
“I’m not going to be running any marathons…," Kylee remarked as she slowed down, still amazed at the fact that she could move so fast without her powers being active. She could outrun a car on the average road. “Which is a shame considering how I’d win.”   
  
“My readings indicate the wristband is doing its job. Is this really your own altered physiology?” Carter asked, dumbfounded as the Doctor observed.   
  
“You were the one telling me about how amazing my physiology is. I guess my body is just used to the speed -- adapted to it. Makes you wonder if it’ll carry over with epigenetics, but I’m not thinking that far ahead," Kylee said with a wry smile. As if she needed to wonder what kind of speed demons she could produce if she ever had kids. Trying to parent superhero tiny tot was more like nightmare fuel than one would think. Even so, the scientific implications were fascinating to think about. “Sam, I think I’ll be okay metabolically, but I’ll have to plan ahead for big missions. Don’t wanna get hypoglycemic and faint in the middle of running down some space warlord.”   
  
“I’m glad to see your sense of humor has recovered," the doctor said, offering a wry smile to the young lady as she climbed off the bike and reached for the glass of water she had been offered.. “And that’s an interesting theory, which may very well be the case. I’d like you to try a regular two thousand calorie diet, and make adjustments as long as you’re living with the wristband on. Obviously, before you go on any missions, treat it like an athletic event.”   
  
“Carb loading? Yeah. I get that. Guess we’re gonna need to buy some extra pasta.” Although Kylee was pretty sure she could put down an entire pizza by herself even with these damn inhibitors on. “But am I good to go?”   
  
“I see no reason why not. Sam, any thoughts on having Cassandra over? I think these two would be thick as thieves, wouldn’t you say?” Fraiser said warmly. Kylee looked up as she pulled on the fresh BDU over the tank top she had been wearing for the test.   
  
“It’s up to her," Sam said, gesturing at Kylee, and she nodded unsurly.   
  
Kylee shrugged, a hand going through her hair, then falling to her shoulder as she considered it. Everything has been so chaotic lately, it would be nice just to have a quiet night without anything to really think about. “How about next time? It’s been a pretty busy day. Week. Month. I need to defrag.”

  
Doctor Fraiser looked puzzled at first, so she glanced over at Sam, who gestured towards the nearby computer and she nodded. “Ah.  I imagine you would. I’m authorizing twenty four hours off base, and once we check in tomorrow I can extend another 48 hours. Obviously they’re imposing a probationary period. All you have to do is stay out of trouble.  As for dinner plans, we’ll sort that out later.”   
  
“Sounds good, Janet. C’mon kiddo," Sam said, leading the way to doorway. Kylee lifted herself from the table she’d leaned on and nodded, following like a baby duck. She chuckled softly at the thought, but all of a sudden, it felt as thought there was a burden lifted from her shoulders. It was a good day. 

* * *

  
Samantha Carter was by no means a homemaker. Honestly, she didn’t  often go home to her small apartment. She noticed the dust that had settled on one of the shelves and the photos while her resident youngster set to work in the kitchen. The apartment was sparsely decorated, with only a few knick knacks and photos on the wall. The place wasn’t exactly lived in. She had moved from her first place in Colorado Springs to accommodate visits from her father after he became Tok’ra, but it really just seemed so small to her now. Maybe it was just the fact that it still looked new, as though she had barely touched these lonely walls. She bit back a mirthless smile as she sat down on her couch, wondering why she was feeling so insecure about it, but every step they made made it more real. And now she was here, and she wasn’t really sure what she wanted to do about it, or why she was feeling like Kylee cared about what her apartment looked like.   
  
She got up before Kylee got too into the work and put a teapot on the stove. “Do you like tea?”   
  
“Hmm?  I dunno, but you have any wine?” Kylee asked as she opened the cupboards, searching for something.   
  
“Uh, sure. But I’m pretty sure you’re not old enough," Sam said, smiling wryly at the youngster.   
  
“Oh, please. Two tablespoons," she said, gesturing to the pork and ground beef on the counter. “I forgot the sherry. And I’ve got more of a taste for wine coolers and cider.”   
  
“That’s no surprise given your sweet tooth." If nothing else, Kylee was honest. She withheld information, sure, but even Sam could understand the apprehension that came with having to lay bare otherwise sensitive things, like her history with her mother or just any personal detail she had yet to share.  There was a lot left to peel back with this girl.   
  
“Yeah, I promise not to go on a bender for another eight months," Kylee said, her voice dripping with sarcasm. Sam shot her a look, but had half a mind to let it go, given how strict her upbringing was.  There was no underage drinking at the air force academy, let alone in her father’s house. Then there was the rite of passage, in her mind, of having the first legal drink bought for you among friends on your 21st birthday. She trusted Kylee enough that she didn’t have any plans to become a delinquent. It was,in fact, a rather ridiculous notion to start with.  The two of them eyeing each other made her break into a laugh before going to the pantry and pulling out a bottle. “Merlot?”   
  
“That’ll do," Kylee replied and she set it on the side of the counter, taking a knife to chop up the herbs and onions.  Sam watched her for a few minutes, noting the skill of which she worked.   
  
“Where did you learn to cook?” Sam asked curiously. She found it a little sad that, even while emotionally burdened ,she seemed all too eager to work to keep her mind off of her loss. Not all dissimilar to herself, she had to admit.  If it weren’t for her dutifully working out the details on that device rather than spending her time in her quarters, they wouldn’t be standing her discussing family recipes.   
  
Kylee stopped chopping, glancing over to Sam, thinning her lips. “Dad has a restaurant. It’s really just a neighborhood café but it has good business. I’ve been waiting tables since I was fifteen, but really everyone in our family can cook," she said, returning to the task of dicing the onion and garlic.  She squinted her eyes, obviously becoming sensitive to the propanethial from the cut onion. She turned away to wash her hands under water as well as the knife.   
  
“So, I can’t help but ask... who is your dad? I mean, what’s he like?” All she had was a surname and an occupation, but it was a burning question. She had no real image of who this guy -- a man who had obviously meant a lot to her -- was, or what she could possibly see in him. The simple fact that Kylee’s mom wasn’t exactly her fell  by the way side as she made the inquiry.   
  
  
“He’s… um," Kylee exhaled, her hands still under the water, thoughtfully mulling over what to tell Sam.  “He’s a nice guy. He’s funny and kind, and likes to please people, which is probably why he’s running a café. It sure isn’t about the money. ‘Course I don’t really know if he even exists in this reality, so I can’t go play parent trap.”   
  
“I think that’s probably a good thing," Sam replied before chuckling and giving a slightly more admonishing look for that little joke. That was the last thing she needed, someone trying to hook her up with someone she may or may not be attracted to.   
  
“Yeah, I’m not that mean. Anyway…” Kylee said as she slid her ingredients into a bowl, and reached for the wine bottle. Sam opened  a drawer to hand her the wine opener, and she corked the bottle, then poured some into the bowl with the other ingredients. Soon enough, the ingredients were mixed together and the food began to cook, while at the same time she diligently prepared a sauce .  The small apartment filled with a homey smell of fresh italian. And sure, maybe they cheated and bought one of those take and bake garlic french loafs, but that was neither here nor there.

It didn’t take long at all for the two of them to get small table Sam had set up in the corner of the kitchen situated. She found herself musing this as she poked a fork into the meatball on her plate, sampling it.    
  
“Alright. I’m sold,"  Sam said, then dished up a plate of food and headed to the table, with Kylee following suit.  Absently, she poured herself a glass of the wine, where Kylee went for some milk. “You’ve got free reign of the kitchen.”   
  
“I figured I’d make a good first impression as a house guest," Kylee said, before digging in herself, quite happy to just eat. If Sam had the girl pegged right, a nap would follow soon thereafter.   
  
“Would it be alright if I went on a walk, check out the neighborhood?”  Sam looked up to the younger girl as she cut a piece of meat with her fork.     
  
“I guess not. Stay close by, though and don’t show off?” Sam really didn’t have to say it, so she grinned a little, letting Kylee know it was meant more of a quip than hard rule. The importance of although staying under the radar had already been discussed in length with her.   
  
“Yeah.  Gotta get that fresh mountain air, y’know," Kylee said, not looking up.   
  
Sam paused, then nodded. “Oh, yah," she said, mimicking Kylee’s slight accent a bit.   
  
“Don’t you start with that. I get it bad enough from Jack," Kylee said, before taking a bite from her bread, as though to emphasize her point.     
  
“He’s… uh. Proud of his heritage," Sam admitted, then looked up at the sound of a knocking on her door.  She wiped her lips with napkin and went to answer. Kylee just stirring the last bits of food around on her plate.  In the peephole, she widened her eyes slightly, mostly in confusion, before opening the door.   
  
“Uh, Colonel, Sir.  What brings you here?”  Sam asked, actually stunned he showed up, but it wasn’t entirely unwelcome either.  She relaxed only as much as their professional relationship would allow.   
  
“Just a quick check in, and giving you a heads up. Hammond wants a couple OSI’s monitoring your place just in case you get any unwanted company," Jack said, jerking his thumb towards the window that aced the street. She could see a black sedan parked out front and two men sitting in it.     
  
Kylee was up on her feet peeking over their shoulder as she looked.  “What’s the deal with them?”   
  
“They’re law enforcement for the Air Force. Why are they here?” Sam asked, more than a little miffed that they had people watching them, but the answer was obvious and she had to concede that it was a good idea.  Kylee listened attentively, as though expecting an explanation for the monitoring, even pouting a little. “I mean, I know why.”   
  
“Can’t be too careful," the Colonel said simply, and that was all Sam needed. They both knew the score, and of course poor Kylee had no idea. Or rather she did, but it was just a validation off the fears she’d had since the beginning.   
  
“Kylee, there’s a few arms of the government who may take advantage of your being off base for their own agendas. We’ll talk about it, brief you on safety measures, and in fact I think we might have to create a few. As for now, we’ll play it by ear," Sam explained with a sigh. Not really the greatest of situations but she’d all but forgotten about that caviet. She supposed Hammond assigned these guys as an additional measure. “Colonel, sir, could you take her out a while? She wanted to take a walk.”   
  
“Gee, it’s almost like I’m back to where I started. Unless this is VIP treatment," Kylee said ruefully as she stretched her arms up over her head, then slipping onto the couch.   
  
“It is.  And not so much," Jack said, then nodded towards the door. “No limo for starters. C’mon kid.”   
  
And with that, Sam watched the pair leave, smiling wistfully and mostly glad that Kylee was so taken with the Colonel, but knowing he had that effect on youngsters. For herself, she was just glad to see Kylee enjoy herself so much, in her new environment.  There was a way to go before she would find herself here, but this was a good start. 

* * *

  
  
“So… they give you the ol’ recruitment speech?” Jack asked as they walked, Kylee taking in a deep breath of the fresh air and generally enjoying the crisp mountain air that carried the smell of early autumn.  She gave Jack a sidelong glance and kept walking. She was pretty sure they weren’t supposed to drop any juicy details while walking around this quiet neighborhood street. But, as she thought about it, she realized there really wasn’t much to say.   
  
“He offered a free ride to get my degree. Who says ‘no’ to that?” she said, offering a shrug.  “But no go on the military, I think I’m pretty sure on that.”   
  
“Yeah, I didn’t think you were up for that," Jack admitted, but didn’t seem at all disappointed.  “Doesn’t really make much of a difference one way or another. You got plenty of smarts to be on team, Egghead.”   
  
That made Kylee laugh a little. She kinda was one of those now, wasn’t she?  She’d grown up with athletic ambitions, and she never really lost that drive to be physical and get up and go, but she also always did well in school. She’don some academic awards and ultimately a scholarship, but she did this with little fanfare.  Very much caught up in a whirlwind of activity and never slowing down. Well, never slowing down to this speed. For the first time in a long time, she had so much time on her hands and no idea what to do with it. It was good, then, that the SGC was there to hand her an opportunity like the college admission and a job saving the world on the side, but it seemed like a hollow victory all the same.   
  
“You talk as though that’s a badge of honor. I sure hope it is," Kylee said, not that she’d mind given that engineers got to build the future, which was all she really ever wanted.   
  
“It is. Probably.  It’s an exclusive club. Better milk the free college long enough to gain admission,"  Jack replied.   
  
“And what’s that?”   
  
“I dunno, y’gotta get at least one PHD. At least then you can translate all the technobabble.”   
  
“Right…” Kylee trailed off, that was something to chew on all right. A doctorate?  She’d never planned that far ahead, probably should have. Shoulda, woulda, coulda. She felt a bit of guilt, mostly over the past year of letting herself get swept up in all the superheroes. She loved it, but her grades had suffered. In her defense, she had been trying to save the world from a threat not unlike the Goa’uld.  It was a rough balance, but she’d have to learn how to do it. There was really no excuse when you looked at it.   
  
“What with all the deep space radar telemetry, all the bosons and hadrons and up down strange charm top bottom stuff?" Kylee asked, turning her gaze up to him to see his reaction.   
  
Jack stopped and squinted his eyes, clearly confused.  “What?”   
  
“Quarks.”   
  
“See, we need people who know this stuff," Jack replied immediately.   
  
“Yeah but that’s all I know. I’m not theoretical astrophysics, I’m applied sciences. Like, robots and… other doohickeys.” She felt as though Jack would appreciate that term better than anything else.  “I’m all for that. And if I can…”   
  
Kylee paused a moment as someone passed them by on the street, stopping herself to think of a way to phrase it better for being out in public. “Save the world with said doohickeys, then that’s what I’ll do.”   
  
“Well there you go. You can do...that. Just maybe put a limit on these doohickeys is in the future.” At that, Kylee couldn’t help but giggle. Yes, giggle.  She pushed it down and looked back up at the old Colonel.   
  
“Are we even talking about the same thing anymore?”   
  
“So, uuh… Got any idea on where you’re going?” he asked, totally changing the subject, though sporting a knowing smile. The vagueness of the question reminded her of her old gymnast coach who said something along the lines of, ‘To Hell if I don’t change my ways’ whenever she was asked where she was going. The inappropriateness of it all always got the girls laughing when they overheard it.   
  
“I do. I think. It’s as far away from the pathetic mess I’ve been in lately.  It’s… I don’t recognize who I am now, and I hate it, but I don’t think I can go back," She looked up to him, her eyes blinking away a stinging wetness.  “I… um. I just wanna be someone I can be proud of. And… stepping up to bat for a PHD seems like a great way to start, if I’m gonna be Earth’s defender some day.”   
  
“Hey, that’s the spirit," Jack said, opting not to comment too much on her confession of self depreciation.  The whole point was that she felt like a shell of her former self, and she couldn’t stand being this way anymore. Jack took it surprisingly well.  “But you know, it’s okay to feel that way, for a while. Just... you can’t stay there or it’ll eat away at you. Fact that you recognize it is good. Just don’t let yourself fall back in.”   
  
Kylee simply nodded, mulling over what she could say to that. Before she had the chance to reply, heads turned to the sound of a clatter, one of those aluminum trash cans. Two little eyes emerged from the can as it jumped onto a cardboard box and shook off the filth. It was young, maybe three months old, tops.  It walked out of the alley, shaking it’s coat off and looked up at them, meowing urgently at them.   
  
Jack looked to Kylee, then to the cat, then sighed.  Kylee snapped out of the ‘aw, cute’ mode, a stupor of letting her heart melt into a puddle.  Guess she was exceptionally vulnerable to cute things at the moment, but if there was such a thing as 'signs from the powers that be’, this had to be one of them.

She crouched down letting the cat sniff her hand. The kitten rubbed his cheeks against it and trilled. Without further hesitation she scooped up the young feline into her arms and it meowed again, then began purring up a storm. “Yeah I know. I'm a stray too. You're in good company.”

“Kid…” The colonel said as a warning.

“I know," Ky said again, looking up at the man with wet eyes, but hardened resolve. Most everything she had now had been handed to her since she got here. Sure, none of it was easily earned but she felt like for the longest time she didn't have a choice. This was a choice, not a hard one but still hers to make. “I'm making a friend, Colonel. Sam will understand," she said. Then she walked on towards the apartment complex with the kitten in her arms.  
  
“Probably. Maybe," the Colonel said, walking beside her and reaching to stroke the small kitten’s cheek. “Good thing Carter is a cat person.”   
  
“Yeah, lucky. I think that’ll make it an easy sell," he said, smiling fondly at the small creature in her arms. This was something she needed.   
  
Once they were back in view of the steps she could see Major Carter standing there waiting for them, or perhaps just getting some fresh air. She saw the kitten and gave a thin smile, her eyes turning to Jack.   
  
“So uh, Colonel, Sir. Did you happen to mention any rules about every kid having a pet?” she asked, teasing her superior officer for past deeds, Kylee suspected.   
  
“No. We found him. Or he found us. I think we should probably give him a home," Kylee explained, holding the little guy out to her, hoping that Sam would get suckered in by those big green eyes of his. Sam rubbed her neck briefly, then accepted the cat for a moment, looking him over.

 

  
  
“He must be a stray. Friendly as he is," Sam said, stalling before giving her answer. The cat snuggling up to her in her hands. Very tame, this one. “As long as we put some flyers out, just to make sure he isn’t lost. If nobody claims him, we’ll keep him.”   
  
Fair enough. Kylee bit her lip and nodded, moving to sit on the stone railing with her aunt. “I guess we might need to do some shopping.”   
  
“Colonel, you mind? Stores are still open for a while," Sam said, holding the kitten, Kylee glanced to Jack who seemed a bit less enthused to be doing chores but he shrugged nonetheless.   
  
“Yeah sure, let’s go, double quick," the older man said.   
  
“That’s not a problem," Kylee said, a broad smile on her face as she followed him out to his truck. If every day going forward worked like this, she didn’t think she’d have a problem. Of course she knew that wouldn’t be the case. At best, that was a naive wish, but sometimes that’s about all someone had to keep themselves moving until one could find that thing within them that was strong enough to push them forward on their own. She wasn’t there yet, but she’d get there in time. She had to.

  
  
  
  


 


End file.
